Legal & General Group Plc Has $5.31 Million Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its holdings in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 283,917 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 30,355 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $5,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the third quarter worth $4,619,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the third quarter worth $1,190,000. Denali Advisors LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $5,610,000 after purchasing an additional 54,428 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 70.6% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 574,107 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $14,335,000 after purchasing an additional 237,537 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in SM Energy by 22.6% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 356,608 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $8,905,000 after purchasing an additional 65,732 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,456.72. This trade represents a 27.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SM. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of SM Energy from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.07.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.0%

SM Energy stock opened at $32.22 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 0.72. SM Energy Company has a 1-year low of $17.45 and a 1-year high of $35.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.97%.

SM Energy Profile

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.