Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 783,822 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 89.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,312 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 783,822 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $3,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SM. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 47.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $10,002,000 after acquiring an additional 80,343 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $833,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,822 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $24,644,000 after buying an additional 24,701 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 132,267 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $5,127,000 after acquiring an additional 31,582 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stephens reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

SM Energy Stock Down 8.0 %

SM opened at $20.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.76. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $51.94.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.20%.

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.