Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 158,941 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 75.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,700 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 158,941 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in SM Energy were worth $2,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the third quarter valued at about $226,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,089,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 24.0% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 50,806 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 9,837 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 16.7% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,713 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $479,000. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total value of $804,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 114,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SM Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

SM traded up $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $49.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,487,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,944. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 4.21. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $25.84 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $49.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business's revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.6 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SM shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised SM Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.57.

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.

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