SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Sold by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE cut its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 511,462 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 295,115 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.45% of SM Energy worth $19,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SM. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 517.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company's stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,854 shares of the energy company's stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered their price target on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.2%

SM Energy stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,602,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,534. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $50.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $24.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.94.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

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.