Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 718,963 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 19,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.63% of SM Energy worth $27,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $281,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 11.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,867 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new position in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in SM Energy by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 25,697 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 7,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SM. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Seven equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.00.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:SM opened at $21.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 3.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.06. SM Energy has a one year low of $19.67 and a one year high of $52.83.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $849.44 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.98%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.