Marshall Wace LLP Takes Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 168,381 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $6,526,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.15% of SM Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 47.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $10,002,000 after purchasing an additional 80,343 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter worth $3,048,000. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $833,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,822 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $24,644,000 after purchasing an additional 24,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $396,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SM. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James lowered their target price on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.00.

SM Energy Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE SM traded down $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.34. 344,308 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,882,273. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $19.67 and a fifty-two week high of $51.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 3.75. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $27.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.47.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The business had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.44 million. Analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.98%.

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.