Aquatic Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 44.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,771 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 40,827 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in SM Energy were worth $2,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in SM Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 517.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company's stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company's stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 1,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in SM Energy by 46.2% during the fourth 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 period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SM. Stephens lowered their price target on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.00.

SM Energy Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of SM traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $23.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,454,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,903,548. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $19.67 and a 52-week high of $51.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $26.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 3.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.09. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given 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 yield of 3.36%. SM Energy's payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

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.