24,000 Shares in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Acquired by Gallo Partners LP

Gallo Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 24,000 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $930,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SM. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in SM Energy by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 517.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,854 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on SM shares. StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

SM Energy Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE SM opened at $23.29 on Wednesday. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $19.67 and a 52 week high of $51.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.38. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 3.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued 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 net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The business had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.