Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,767 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 724 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of SM Energy worth $3,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in SM Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $213,326,000 after purchasing an additional 493,427 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,685,000 after acquiring an additional 64,781 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,552,004 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $77,367,000 after purchasing an additional 258,733 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in SM Energy by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,077,231 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $41,710,000 after purchasing an additional 198,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 16.3% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,021,032 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $50,898,000 after purchasing an additional 143,293 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Price Performance

NYSE SM traded up $1.10 on Wednesday, hitting $46.59. The company had a trading volume of 417,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,713,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.51. The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 4.20. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $34.13 and a 12-month high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.13. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $559.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.21 million. As a group, analysts predict that SM Energy will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 11.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total value of $804,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 114,495 shares in the company, valued at $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on SM shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.44.

SM Energy 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.