SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Sold by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Cresset Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,713 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 2,079 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SM. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 517.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in 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 valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in SM Energy by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,854 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SM shares. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Stephens decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.00.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $23.15 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $50.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 2.17.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $814.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In related news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.