SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 339,597 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 592 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.30% of SM Energy worth $13,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 499,445 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $19,358,000 after purchasing an additional 29,656 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 544,961 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $21,123,000 after buying an additional 5,345 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 238,205 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $9,233,000 after buying an additional 55,600 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $294,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 195,761 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,588,000 after acquiring an additional 33,601 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on SM shares. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.83.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM opened at $21.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 3.75. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $30.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.82. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $19.67 and a 52-week high of $51.94.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.98%.

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.