Denali Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 52.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 261,902 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 89,558 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC owned 0.23% of SM Energy worth $6,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,258 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in SM Energy by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,704 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $860,000 after acquiring an additional 6,928 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 162,849 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,877,000 after acquiring an additional 39,165 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its position in SM Energy by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 46,039 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 4,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in SM Energy by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,705 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $19,578,000 after acquiring an additional 17,883 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on SM. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen raised SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on SM Energy to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on SM Energy from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Zacks Research cut SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.50.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $20.62 on Wednesday. SM Energy Company has a one year low of $19.67 and a one year high of $46.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.95 and its 200 day moving average is $25.30. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

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

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.30%.

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.