Eagle Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 324,126 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 47,202 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of SM Energy worth $14,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SM. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in SM Energy by 461.9% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in SM Energy in the third quarter worth $30,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in SM Energy by 63.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 872 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in SM Energy during the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 3,434.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of SM opened at $46.03 on Friday. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $34.13 and a 1-year high of $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 4.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The firm had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 11.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on SM Energy from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Stephens raised their price objective on SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho dropped their target price on SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.09.

SM Energy 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.