Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 58,200 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,254,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 20,125 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Eaton Vance Management grew its holdings in SM Energy by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 8,361 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY increased its position in SM Energy by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 7,630 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in SM Energy by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 990 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in SM Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,315 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Seaport Res Ptn raised SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James lowered their target price on SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.29.

SM Energy Price Performance

NYSE SM opened at $50.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 4.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.72. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $25.03 and a 52-week high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 10.48%.

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.