Man Group plc Sells 123,454 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Man Group plc lowered its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 38.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,933 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 123,454 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.17% of SM Energy worth $7,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in 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 valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in SM Energy by 47.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $10,002,000 after purchasing an additional 80,343 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in SM Energy by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,822 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $24,644,000 after purchasing an additional 24,701 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA bought a new position in SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $396,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 132,267 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $5,127,000 after acquiring an additional 31,582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 note on Tuesday, March 25th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Susquehanna cut 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. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.92.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SM opened at $23.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.16 and a 200-day moving average of $34.47. 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 has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 2.17. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $19.67 and a 52-week high of $50.77.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. SM Energy's quarterly revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is 11.20%.

About SM Energy

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.

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