SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,324 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,831 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of SM Energy worth $4,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in SM Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,045 shares of the energy company's stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 7.0% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 32,403 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Stock Up 1.3 %

SM Energy stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $46.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,014,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,334,863. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $42.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 4.18. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $34.13 and a 52-week 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 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. The company had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders 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 was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna cut their target price on SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp dropped their target price on SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.09.

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.