B&L Asset Management LLC Takes Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,778 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in SM Energy by 461.9% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter worth $30,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in SM Energy by 63.9% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in SM Energy by 3,434.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.09.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of SM opened at $45.19 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 4.18. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $53.26.

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

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.