Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 4,334 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 72.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,305 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,334 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $213,326,000 after buying an additional 493,427 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,685,000 after buying an additional 64,781 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,547,315 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,351,000 after buying an additional 83,588 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $50,075,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,163,332 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,126,000 after buying an additional 358,253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SM. StockNews.com raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.11.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total value of $804,480.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 114,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $43.17 on Friday. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $29.51 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 4.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.32.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $559.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.21 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. On average, equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.29%.

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.