SIR Capital Management L.P. Lowers Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

SIR Capital Management L.P. cut its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 93.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,974 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 436,280 shares during the quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in SM Energy by 64.5% in 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. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 47.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $10,002,000 after acquiring an additional 80,343 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,822 shares of the energy company's stock worth $24,644,000 after acquiring an additional 24,701 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $396,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 132,267 shares of the energy company's stock worth $5,127,000 after acquiring an additional 31,582 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned 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 a consensus target price of $42.92.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM traded down $0.54 during trading on Monday, hitting $23.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,563,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,969,093. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 2.17. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $50.77. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $25.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SM Energy Company 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.