Aberdeen Group plc Buys 112,529 Shares of SM Energy Company $SM

Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 559,288 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 112,529 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $13,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in SM Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 36,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $227,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,118 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,135 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,682,000 after buying an additional 4,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in SM Energy by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 93,828 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 10,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM stock opened at $22.57 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 2.30. SM Energy Company has a 1 year low of $19.67 and a 1 year high of $46.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is presently 11.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SM. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $38.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of SM Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.10.

SM Energy 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.