Quest Partners LLC Invests $625,000 in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,633 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $625,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 461.9% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in SM Energy by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 872 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in SM Energy by 3,434.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price objective 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. Tudor Pickering raised shares of SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.09.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

SM Energy stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.03. 1,014,664 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,334,863. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 4.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.72. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $53.26.

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

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This is an increase from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. SM Energy's payout ratio is 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.