Cozad Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 84,447 SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Cozad Asset Management acquired 84,447 shares of SM Energy during the first quarter, worth approximately $2.63 million. Institutional investors collectively own 94.56% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: SM Energy has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 16 analysts, with an average price target of $36.53.
• SM Energy exceeded first-quarter earnings expectations, reporting $1.55 in EPS and $1.48 billion in revenue, while paying a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, equivalent to a 2.7% annualized yield.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 84,447 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $2,633,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SM shares. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. 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 for the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.53.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM opened at $32.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. SM Energy Company has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $35.88.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. On average, analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is 36.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

SM Energy 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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