Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $3.13 Million Investment in SM Energy Company $SM

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 100,300 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,127,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Global Investments boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,417 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,748 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp grew its holdings in SM Energy by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,860 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,211 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:SM opened at $26.30 on Monday. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $35.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05 and a beta of 0.72.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SM. Raymond James Financial raised SM Energy from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on SM Energy from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.00.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the business’s 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 owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. The trade was a 27.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SM Energy Company 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.