SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Purchased by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 56.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,726 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,887 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter valued at $5,614,000. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 1,733.5% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 102,307 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after buying an additional 96,727 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $710,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in SM Energy by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 593,241 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,646,000 after buying an additional 27,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 19.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 764,118 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,093,000 after acquiring an additional 124,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $42.85 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.02 and a 200 day moving average of $45.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 4.18. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.13 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $634.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $616.63 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 33.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.73.

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.