Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 21,000 SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,000 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in SM Energy by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in SM Energy by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,746 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 24,739 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Down 4.4 %

NYSE:SM opened at $37.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 4.11. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $36.13 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.80.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. Analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.90.

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.