Vest Financial LLC Sells 13,448 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Vest Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 20.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,621 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 13,448 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in SM Energy by 200.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 517.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Numerai GP LLC bought a new position in SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SM opened at $24.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $19.67 and a 52-week high of $50.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.62.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SM. Mizuho decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.42.

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.