Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases 157,923 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,709,927 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 157,923 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $73,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 54.9% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 581 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 461.9% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 66.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 829 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $41.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $34.13 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 4.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.59.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.18% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $634.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $616.63 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on SM Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.22.

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.