Kennedy Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in SM Energy Company $SM

Kennedy Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 32.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 386,165 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 187,942 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $7,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SM. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 268.3% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,271,757 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $42,482,000 after buying an additional 1,654,891 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 198.9% in the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $60,665,000 after buying an additional 1,616,822 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $25,179,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 53.5% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,756,496 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $43,860,000 after buying an additional 612,444 shares during the period. Finally, Thomist Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,384,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total transaction of $834,310.94. Following the sale, the director owned 65,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. This trade represents a 27.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SM. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Mizuho increased their price target on SM Energy from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Stephens increased their price objective on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.07.

SM Energy Stock Down 8.7%

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $28.44 on Tuesday. SM Energy Company has a 52-week low of $17.45 and a 52-week high of $35.88. The stock has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $30.70 and its 200 day moving average is $24.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. SM Energy’s revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 36.97%.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.