Signaturefd LLC Buys 571 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,966 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $3,373,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 574,120 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $22,230,000 after buying an additional 123,126 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 169,483 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,720,000 after buying an additional 80,653 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,492,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $270,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM opened at $50.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.44. SM Energy has a one year low of $25.03 and a one year high of $53.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 4.20.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 34.45%. The company had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James cut their price objective on SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.57.

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.