Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 62,314 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 86.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,523 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 62,314 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in SM Energy were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 461.9% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 3,434.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the energy company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SM. Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.73.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 891,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,730,239. The company has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 4.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.97. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $643.67 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. SM Energy's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This is an increase from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.