Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $82.11 Million Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,118,297 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,297 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 1.85% of SM Energy worth $82,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SM. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $346,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in SM Energy by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 156,858 shares of the energy company's stock worth $6,080,000 after buying an additional 7,303 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in SM Energy by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 34,482 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 10,611 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in SM Energy by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,718 shares of the energy company's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Numerai GP LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SM. Stephens dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho lowered their price target on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $23.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,507,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,161. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 2.17. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $19.67 and a 52 week high of $50.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.32. 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 issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. SM Energy's quarterly revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.20%.

SM Energy 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.