Bridgewater Associates LP Increases Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 136.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 484,119 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279,417 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $19,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 461.9% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 872 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 3,434.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on SM Energy from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stephens upped their target price on SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.09.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM opened at $44.85 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.96 and its 200-day moving average is $44.56. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 4.18. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $34.13 and a twelve month high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The firm had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

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.