Kestra Advisory Services LLC Buys 86,936 Shares of SM Energy Company $SM

Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 1,011.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,528 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,936 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $2,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,417 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its position in SM Energy by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,748 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in SM Energy by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its stake in SM Energy by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,860 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in SM Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,211 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SM shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Stephens decreased their price target on SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on SM Energy from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on SM Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SM Energy news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total transaction of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. This represents a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $31.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $35.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.36.

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. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.