SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Purchased by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 103.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,658 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,332 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Toroso Investments LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $1,283,000. American Trust raised its position in SM Energy by 8.9% in the first quarter. American Trust now owns 15,782 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in SM Energy by 10.0% in the first quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 63,939 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 5,793 shares during the period. Colony Group LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 37.5% in the first quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 94,550 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 25,778 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,800,519 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $191,502,000 after buying an additional 122,878 shares in the last quarter. 91.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SM Energy Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE SM traded down $0.92 on Wednesday, hitting $40.46. 309,819 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,762,067. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $24.66 and a 52-week high of $48.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 4.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.69.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The energy company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.26. SM Energy had a net margin of 41.36% and a return on equity of 22.48%. The business had revenue of $550.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $555.46 million. Research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 5.66 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 21st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a yield of 1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 20th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 6.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on SM. Susquehanna boosted their target price on SM Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on SM Energy from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. TheStreet raised SM Energy from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 15,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.14, for a total transaction of $644,663.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 73,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,031,400.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 15,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.14, for a total value of $644,663.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 73,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,031,400.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rose M. Robeson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.65, for a total transaction of $1,189,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 39,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,567,404.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,164 shares of company stock valued at $2,083,923 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Company 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 also has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St.