Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 2,838 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,136 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,838 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.09% of SM Energy worth $4,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 7.0% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,746 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 24,739 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 6,237 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SM. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $53.00 price target (up from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.90.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $32.34 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 4.11. SM Energy has a one year low of $32.19 and a one year high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $849.44 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 11.98%.

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.