First Trust Advisors LP Has $40.24 Million Stock Holdings in SM Energy Company $SM

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 72.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,290,485 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 543,769 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.54% of SM Energy worth $40,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,417 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $868,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its position in SM Energy by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,748 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in SM Energy by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,860 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,211 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total transaction of $834,310.94. Following the sale, the director owned 65,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. This represents a 27.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Roth Capital upgraded SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho reduced their target price on SM Energy from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on SM Energy from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.53.

SM Energy Stock Down 8.6%

SM opened at $30.33 on Tuesday. SM Energy Company has a 12 month low of $17.45 and a 12 month high of $35.88. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.17 and a 200 day moving average of $26.99.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 6.95 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is presently 36.97%.

About SM Energy

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.