James Barker Lebeck Sells 17,500 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total transaction of $647,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $544,379.10. The trade was a 54.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

SM Energy Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of SM opened at $35.71 on Wednesday. SM Energy Company has a 12 month low of $17.45 and a 12 month high of $38.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.49 and its 200-day moving average is $29.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Torren Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4,561.1% during the 1st quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kilter Group LLC bought a new position in SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SM shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Susquehanna raised their price target on SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on SM Energy from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.93.

SM Energy Company 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.