The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $2.63 Million Stock Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,765 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,025 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.06% of SM Energy worth $2,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2,515.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $178,404,000 after buying an additional 4,292,793 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in SM Energy by 929.6% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,159,488 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,872 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2,217.1% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 818,032 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $32,697,000 after acquiring an additional 782,728 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $274,161,000 after purchasing an additional 384,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 144.7% during the second quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 457,854 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $19,793,000 after purchasing an additional 270,754 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SM. TD Cowen upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp decreased 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 note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective (up previously from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

SM Energy Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of SM opened at $40.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $34.13 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 4.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.36 and its 200-day moving average is $44.25.

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

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.