Swiss National Bank Lowers Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 233,900 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 31,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of SM Energy worth $9,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $263,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 99,334 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,846,000 after purchasing an additional 15,691 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 225,991 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $8,750,000 after purchasing an additional 5,713 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 95,399 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,694,000 after buying an additional 5,986 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SM shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.57.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

SM stock traded up $0.60 on Tuesday, reaching $49.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,299,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,579,035. The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 4.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.03. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $25.47 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 31.80%. The business's revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.29%.

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.