First Trust Advisors LP Raises Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 40.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,683,131 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 767,779 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 2.34% of SM Energy worth $103,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $6,526,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 80,260 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 5,781 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in SM Energy by 196.5% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 18,878 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 12,511 shares during the period. Adams Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Adams Wealth Management now owns 73,275 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,840,000 after buying an additional 9,710 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,915 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $9,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,697 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

SM Energy stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,368,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,886,515. The stock's fifty day moving average is $27.72 and its 200 day moving average is $36.74. 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 has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $51.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 3.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $849.44 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James cut their price target on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of 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, KeyCorp reduced their target price 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.00.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.