109,758 Shares in SM Energy Company $SM Bought by South Dakota Investment Council

Key Points

• South Dakota Investment Council acquired 109,758 shares of SM Energy worth approximately $3.42 million, while institutional investors collectively own 94.56% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 10 Buy ratings and six Holds; the stock has an average price target of $36.53 versus its recent $31.61 opening price.
• SM Energy exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.55 in EPS and $1.48 billion in revenue, up 75% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, yielding about 2.8% annually.

South Dakota Investment Council acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 109,758 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $3,422,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 91,916 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,753,000 after buying an additional 19,965 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 43.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 145,922 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 44,542 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in SM Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,111 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,040,000 after acquiring an additional 2,969 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SM Energy by 44.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in SM Energy in the first quarter worth $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SM. KeyCorp raised their price objective on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research lowered SM Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on SM Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SM Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.53.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the sale, the director owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,456.72. This represents a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM opened at $31.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.27. The stock has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.73. SM Energy Company has a one year low of $17.45 and a one year high of $35.88.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy's payout ratio is presently 36.97%.

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.

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