Unison Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in SM Energy Company $SM

Unison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 36,104 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SM. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,619,000. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in SM Energy by 19.9% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,212,775 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,283,000 after purchasing an additional 201,704 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth about $1,190,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 135.2% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 254,766 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,362,000 after purchasing an additional 146,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 16.3% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,731,350 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $92,202,000 after purchasing an additional 524,105 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SM shares. Mizuho set a $34.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of SM Energy from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.62.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM opened at $30.64 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. SM Energy Company has a 12 month low of $17.45 and a 12 month high of $33.25.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.58%.

SM Energy Company 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.