SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Position Raised by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,975 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $179,546,000 after purchasing an additional 835,929 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $22,059,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 214.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 519,302 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $20,128,000 after acquiring an additional 354,297 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $142,718,000 after acquiring an additional 296,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 221.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 388,761 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $15,068,000 after purchasing an additional 267,789 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SM shares. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho cut their price objective on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Seven investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

SM Energy Trading Down 13.6 %

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $21.27 on Friday. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $19.67 and a fifty-two week high of $52.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 3.75. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.20.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $849.44 million. On average, analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.98%.

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.