GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $157,000 in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,225 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,054,503 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $81,461,000 after purchasing an additional 865,480 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in SM Energy by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,547,315 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $61,351,000 after purchasing an additional 83,588 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in SM Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,528,322 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $60,598,000 after purchasing an additional 67,225 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,492,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in SM Energy by 44.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,163,332 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,126,000 after purchasing an additional 358,253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.57.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $50.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 4.20. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.03 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $47.37 and its 200 day moving average is $41.33.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.48%.

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.