Rafferty Asset Management LLC Acquires 7,303 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 156,858 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,303 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of SM Energy worth $6,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 34,482 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 10,611 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,718 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth $208,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 65,142 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 103,185 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,001,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:SM opened at $24.48 on Friday. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $50.77. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 2.17.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. SM Energy’s revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SM. Raymond James dropped their target price on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Susquehanna dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.92.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About SM Energy

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.