37,400 Shares of SM Energy Company $SM Bought by SMH Capital Advisors Inc.

SMH Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 37,400 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,263,000. SM Energy comprises approximately 4.8% of SMH Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 4,561.1% during the first quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 211.2% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 974 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on SM. KeyCorp upped their price target on SM Energy from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on SM Energy from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Stephens decreased their target price on SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on SM Energy from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total value of $139,722.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $479,457. This represents a 22.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total value of $647,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $544,379.10. This represents a 54.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Down 7.5%

SM Energy stock opened at $37.37 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.31. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $41.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.95.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 215.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include acquiring prospective acreage, drilling and completing wells, and managing producing properties in U.S. onshore oil and gas basins.

The company’s operations are primarily concentrated in Texas, including the Midland Basin in West Texas and the Eagle Ford shale region in South Texas. SM Energy focuses on development of unconventional resources and uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies to produce hydrocarbons from shale and other tight-rock formations.

Founded in 1908 as St.