SM Energy Company $SM Shares Acquired by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP increased its SM Energy stake by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 42,398 more shares to bring its total to 399,006 shares worth about $7.46 million.
• SM Energy reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.55 topping estimates and revenue of $1.48 billion coming in above expectations, while analysts now have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, and a director recently sold 24,553 shares in a transaction valued at about $834,311.

Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 399,006 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,398 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.35% of SM Energy worth $7,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in SM Energy by 316.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,200 shares of the energy company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 160.5% during 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. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in SM Energy by 10,461.5% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in SM Energy by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other SM Energy news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total transaction of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. This trade represents a 27.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on SM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded SM Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded SM Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded SM Energy from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.07.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE:SM opened at $31.17 on Friday. SM Energy Company has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $35.88. The stock has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.32 and a 200-day moving average of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.97%.

About SM Energy

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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