Kenneth J. Knott Sells 16,000 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total value of $804,480.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 114,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

SM Energy Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of SM stock opened at $48.37 on Thursday. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $25.84 and a 1 year high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.38. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 4.21.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 31.80%. The firm had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 509.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 567 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 54.9% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 581 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 665.6% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 689 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 59.7% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 990 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SM shares. Susquehanna increased their price target on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp increased their price target on SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.57.

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