Channing Capital Management LLC Acquires 391,536 Shares of SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Channing Capital Management LLC increased its stake in SM Energy Company by 33.5%, owning approximately 1.36% of the company valued at around $46.7 million as of the last quarter.
• SM Energy reported a 25% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year, with earnings per share of $1.50, exceeding analysts' estimates by $0.27.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.1% and a relatively low payout ratio of 11.30%.

Channing Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 33.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,558,569 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 391,536 shares during the quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.36% of SM Energy worth $46,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,718 shares of the energy company's stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,688 shares of the energy company's stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,258 shares of the energy company's stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,534 shares of the energy company's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 103,185 shares of the energy company's stock worth $4,001,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SM shares. Mizuho increased their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen upgraded SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial cut SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.50.

SM Energy Stock Up 6.9%

NYSE:SM traded up $1.7950 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.7150. 2,246,633 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,050,518. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $26.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.15. SM Energy Company has a one year low of $19.67 and a one year high of $47.69. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 2.29.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.27. SM Energy had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 25.94%.The business had revenue of $792.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $792.58 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. The business's revenue was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.30%.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the state of Texas. It has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St.