Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Stock Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management increased its holdings in SM Energy by 7.1%, acquiring an additional 41,247 shares, bringing its total ownership to 623,617 shares worth approximately $15.4 million.
• SM Energy's stock saw a decline of 6.2% recently, with a current trading price of $25.67, while its market cap stands at $2.95 billion.
• Despite mixed ratings from analysts, the average price target for SM Energy is $42.08, with one analyst giving a Strong Buy rating and several others with Hold and Buy designations.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 623,617 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 41,247 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.54% of SM Energy worth $15,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in SM Energy by 69.5% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 200.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in SM Energy by 1,097.9% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,138 shares of the energy company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 172.8% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter worth $45,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SM Energy Trading Up 3.6%

SM Energy stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.77. 1,410,550 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,222,710. SM Energy Company has a fifty-two week low of $19.67 and a fifty-two week high of $46.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 2.47. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $27.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $44.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 15th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.08.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.