Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,199,510 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,686 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 13.28% of SM Energy worth $589,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 8,206 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in SM Energy by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 97,800 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 33,392 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 24,739 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,214 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $29.94 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $26.66 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. Analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SM. StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James cut their price target on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

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.