Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $2.04 Million Stock Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,691 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 582 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $2,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $477,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its stake in SM Energy by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 13,351 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 3,171 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 842,960 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $42,022,000 after purchasing an additional 91,507 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in SM Energy by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 104,545 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,212,000 after purchasing an additional 23,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 509.7% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 567 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SM Energy news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total value of $804,480.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 114,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,756,808.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the subject of several research reports. 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 research note on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.89.

SM Energy Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE SM traded down $1.13 on Friday, hitting $44.19. 113,916 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,712,540. The company has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 4.20. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $29.51 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.11 and a 200-day moving average of $44.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $559.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.21 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. As a group, analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.29%.

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.