William Blair Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stakes in SM Energy Company by 57.0%, selling 399,528 shares, leaving them with 301,909 shares valued at approximately $7.46 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Millennium Management LLC and Invesco Ltd., significantly increased their holdings in SM Energy, showcasing strong interest in the stock among institutional investors.
• SM Energy recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.8%, reflecting a payout ratio of 11.30%.

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 57.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 301,909 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 399,528 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.26% of SM Energy worth $7,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 663.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,884,536 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $56,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,779 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $44,005,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 169.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,873,860 shares of the energy company's stock worth $56,122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,397 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 51.4% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,207,245 shares of the energy company's stock worth $96,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $25,363,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SM shares. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho set a $38.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.50.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.1%

SM opened at $21.28 on Tuesday. SM Energy Company has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $46.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.33. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.30.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.27. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $792.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $792.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is 11.30%.

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.

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