Bridgewater Associates LP Buys 279,417 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 136.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 484,119 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 279,417 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.42% of SM Energy worth $19,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SM. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 2,515.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $178,404,000 after buying an additional 4,292,793 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 929.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 2,217.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 818,032 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $32,697,000 after acquiring an additional 782,728 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 267.4% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 391,107 shares of the energy company's stock worth $15,633,000 after purchasing an additional 284,665 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

SM stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $44.83. The company had a trading volume of 703,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,693,782. The company has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 4.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.04 and a 200 day moving average of $44.56. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $34.13 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 3.52.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. The company 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%. SM Energy's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. SM Energy's payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Tudor Pickering raised SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. KeyCorp cut their target price on SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.09.

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.