Kestra Advisory Services LLC Acquires 86,936 Shares of SM Energy Company $SM

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 1,011.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,528 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,936 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $2,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Seelaus Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $313,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 97.3% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,795 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 25,544 shares in the last quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter worth $1,065,000. Sage Rhino Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter worth $430,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter worth $1,687,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SM. Truist Financial reduced their price target on SM Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Siebert Williams Shank raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Susquehanna raised their target price on SM Energy from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group began coverage on SM Energy in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,456.72. This trade represents a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $31.37 on Friday. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $35.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.73.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 36.97%.

SM Energy Profile

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.