Nuveen Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 37.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 541,781 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 330,746 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.47% of SM Energy worth $20,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Numerai GP LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $208,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 65,142 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,525,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 103,185 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,001,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 67,648 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,622,000 after buying an additional 8,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 111,699 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,329,000 after buying an additional 31,346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $23.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 234,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,320,741. The business's 50-day moving average price is $24.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.66. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $19.67 and a 12 month high of $50.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy's payout ratio is 11.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho reduced 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.42.

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.