SM Energy Company $SM Shares Acquired by UBS Group AG

Key Points

• UBS Group AG increased its stake in SM Energy by 23% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 124,448 shares to bring its total holdings to 666,070 shares valued at about $12.46 million.
• SM Energy’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with earnings per share of $1.55 versus the $1.13 estimate and revenue of $1.48 billion, up 75% from a year earlier.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with several firms raising price targets and ratings; the stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $35.07.

UBS Group AG increased its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 666,070 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 124,448 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 0.58% of SM Energy worth $12,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in SM Energy by 0.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,921,769 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $147,876,000 after buying an additional 30,951 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,585,624 shares of the energy company's stock worth $114,503,000 after acquiring an additional 375,754 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 198.9% during the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company's stock worth $60,665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616,822 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,323,065 shares of the energy company's stock worth $58,007,000 after acquiring an additional 33,751 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in SM Energy by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,756,496 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $43,860,000 after purchasing an additional 612,444 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Susquehanna raised their price target on SM Energy from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research raised SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.07.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM stock opened at $31.32 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $28.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.90. The firm has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 0.73. 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 Company has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $33.25.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. SM Energy's revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.97%.

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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