SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,273 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,435 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in SM Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $657,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 46,029 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,469 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $263,000. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM Energy stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $51.02. 97,827 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,574,245. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $25.03 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 4.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.59 and a 200 day moving average of $41.72.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. SM Energy’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Monday, February 5th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.57.

SM Energy 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.