Empyrean Capital Partners LP Takes Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 74,000 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,307,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in SM Energy by 79.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $311,678,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,751 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 205.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $53,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,255 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 268.3% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,271,757 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $42,482,000 after buying an additional 1,654,891 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 198.9% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $60,665,000 after buying an additional 1,616,822 shares during the period. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,275,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SM Energy news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total transaction of $834,310.94. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,456.72. This represents a 27.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SM Energy Trading Down 8.6%

SM opened at $30.33 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.73. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $35.88.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 36.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SM shares. Susquehanna increased their price target on SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on SM Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.53.

SM Energy Profile

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.