Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Reduces Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 89.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,312 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 783,822 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.08% of SM Energy worth $3,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SM. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 517.9% during 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 last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in SM Energy by 64.5% during the fourth 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. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in SM Energy by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,854 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions 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 that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.00.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:SM traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,756,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,519. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 2.17. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $25.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.25. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $50.77.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio 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.