Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 35.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,095 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 20,159 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 59.7% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 990 shares of the energy company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 294.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,064 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 3,772.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on SM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. KeyCorp raised their target price on SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.57.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SM traded down $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.63. 1,507,456 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,590,486. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 4.21. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.03 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.29%.

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.