Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 22,152 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,223,038 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,152 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.07% of SM Energy worth $48,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Tudor Pickering raised SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.09.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $45.19. 645,995 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,188,395. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $34.13 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 4.18. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $43.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.50. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current 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 1.77%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

SM Energy 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.