Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 52,469 Shares of SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in SM Energy Company by 9.2%, selling 52,469 shares and retaining approximately 0.45% ownership valued at $15.5 million.
• SM Energy reported a 25% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with earnings of $1.50 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.8%, with a low dividend payout ratio of 11.30%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. cut its position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 516,649 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 52,469 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.45% of SM Energy worth $15,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SM. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 200.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 172.8% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 80.7% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the energy company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in SM Energy by 73.1% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,899 shares of the energy company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,760 shares of the energy company's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.50.

SM Energy Trading Up 2.1%

SM Energy stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $29.14. The stock had a trading volume of 735,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,239,604. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 2.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $19.67 and a 52 week high of $46.42.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $792.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. Analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. SM Energy's payout ratio is presently 11.30%.

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.