54,982 Shares in SM Energy Company $SM Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in SM Energy, buying 54,982 shares valued at about $1.03 million.
• SM Energy reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.55 beating estimates and revenue of $1.48 billion, up 75% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, which annualizes to $0.88 and implies a 2.8% yield; meanwhile, analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $37.07.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 54,982 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $1,028,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SM. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in SM Energy by 160.5% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in SM Energy by 10,461.5% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 62.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in SM Energy by 316.7% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,200 shares of the energy company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $31.17 on Friday. 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 $7.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.32 and a 200-day moving average of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. SM Energy's payout ratio is presently 36.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 value of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. The trade was a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 price objective on SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Stephens boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Roth Mkm restated a "neutral" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank upgraded SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.07.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.