Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $3.69 Million Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,399 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,986 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $3,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 59.7% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 990 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 294.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,064 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 3,772.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.57.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of SM stock opened at $50.01 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.92 and a 200-day moving average of $41.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $25.03 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The company has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 4.20.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.33 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. SM Energy’s 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.