Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Increases Holdings in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Pekin Hardy Strauss increased its stake in SM Energy by 24.3%, owning 397,039 shares (about 0.35% of the company) worth $7.43 million after buying 77,638 shares in Q4.
• Q4 results showed an EPS beat ($0.83 vs. $0.73) despite revenue falling 17.3% year-over-year, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 (annualized $0.88, ~3.0% yield).
• SM Energy trades with a market cap of $7.02B and a P/E of 5.18; institutional ownership is ~94.6% and analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $33.62.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 397,039 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 77,638 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. owned 0.35% of SM Energy worth $7,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 160.5% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 316.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,200 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 220.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.6%

SM opened at $29.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm's fifty day moving average is $27.41 and its 200 day moving average is $22.27. SM Energy Company has a fifty-two week low of $17.45 and a fifty-two week high of $33.25.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.SM Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. SM Energy's payout ratio is presently 15.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SM Energy from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Siebert Williams Shank cut shares of SM Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.62.

SM Energy Company 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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