Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires 279,417 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 136.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 484,119 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 279,417 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.42% of SM Energy worth $19,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 79.2% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 65,421 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 28,920 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 593,241 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,646,000 after purchasing an additional 27,405 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 19.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 764,118 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,093,000 after purchasing an additional 124,450 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 144.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,357 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $894,000 after acquiring an additional 13,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in SM Energy by 82.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 411,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $17,772,000 after purchasing an additional 185,433 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.09.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SM opened at $44.85 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.56. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.26 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

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

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.