Css LLC Il Sells 12,661 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

CSS LLC IL reduced its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 27.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,671 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 12,661 shares during the period. CSS LLC IL's holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in SM Energy by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $179,546,000 after buying an additional 835,929 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company's stock worth $142,718,000 after buying an additional 296,601 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,683,131 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $103,998,000 after acquiring an additional 767,779 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,118,297 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $82,105,000 after acquiring an additional 42,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,449,483 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $56,182,000 after acquiring an additional 140,228 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM traded down $0.04 on Monday, hitting $23.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,602,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,534. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $19.67 and a 12 month high of $50.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company'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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

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

SM Energy Company 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.