25,396 Shares in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Bought by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,396 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $1,015,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in SM Energy by 461.9% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 63.9% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 872 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in SM Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy by 3,434.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on 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. StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.09.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM traded down $1.04 on Monday, reaching $44.15. 667,873 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,684,578. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $34.13 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 4.18. The company's 50 day moving average is $43.18 and its 200-day moving average is $44.47.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $643.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. 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.