Neo Ivy Capital Management Sells 66,299 Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)

Key Points

• Neo Ivy Capital Management reduced its stake in SM Energy Company by 78.1%, owning 18,634 shares after selling 66,299 shares in the first quarter.
• SM Energy reported $1.76 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.60, with revenue of $844.54 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, set to be paid on August 4th, which represents an annualized yield of 2.91%.

Neo Ivy Capital Management decreased its position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 78.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,634 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 66,299 shares during the quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management's holdings in SM Energy were worth $558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company's stock worth $179,546,000 after buying an additional 835,929 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in 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 worth $103,998,000 after purchasing an additional 767,779 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,118,297 shares of the energy company's stock worth $82,105,000 after purchasing an additional 42,297 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in SM Energy by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,449,483 shares of the energy company's stock worth $56,182,000 after purchasing an additional 140,228 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 15.8% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,259,627 shares of the energy company's stock worth $37,726,000 after purchasing an additional 172,161 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM stock traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.16. 320,366 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,281,719. SM Energy Company has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $47.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 2.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 27.61%. The firm had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $814.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on SM. Raymond James Financial cut shares of SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen raised SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho dropped their target price on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.33.

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.