SM Energy Company $SM Shares Sold by Weiss Asset Management LP

Weiss Asset Management LP lowered its position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 63.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,200 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 68,027 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Torren Management LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 4,561.1% in the first quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock 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 stock has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. SM Energy’s revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Capital upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho lowered their target price on SM Energy from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on SM Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.53.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were 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. The trade was a 27.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

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.