SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Purchased by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,449,483 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 140,228 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.27% of SM Energy worth $56,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SM. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 51.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 517.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company's stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company's stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,854 shares of the energy company's stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought 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 in the company, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.39. The stock had a trading volume of 501,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,096. The company's 50 day moving average price is $25.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.06. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $50.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy's payout ratio is 11.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SM. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp cut their price target on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stephens cut their price target on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.92.

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.