SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Acquired by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,523 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,644 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.20% of SM Energy worth $9,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in SM Energy in the third quarter valued at $55,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $83,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 51.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in SM Energy by 16.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM opened at $30.32 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $26.66 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. Analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired 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 $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.