Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Takes Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 11,461 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in SM Energy by 554.7% in the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,863 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 3,273 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in SM Energy by 30.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,090,000 after buying an additional 23,831 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 79.2% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 65,421 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 28,920 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 42,249 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of SM opened at $43.33 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $34.13 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 4.18.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The company had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SM. Stephens raised their target price on SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho cut their price target on SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. 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 note on Tuesday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.73.

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.