KBC Group NV Boosts Stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SM. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in SM Energy by 461.9% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 872 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 3,434.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $45.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 4.18. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.75. SM Energy has a one year low of $34.13 and a one year high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 3.52.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. SM Energy’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SM has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens increased their price target on SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.09.

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.