Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Invests $1.18 Million in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 30,545 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $1,184,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 51.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 517.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 3,470 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in SM Energy by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,854 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna reduced their price target on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.92.

SM Energy Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of SM traded up $0.60 during trading hours 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 2.17. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $25.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.06. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $19.67 and a 12-month high of $50.77.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.20%.

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.