CX Institutional Sells 3,073 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

CX Institutional lowered its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,645 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 3,073 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in SM Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,287,815 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $251,324,000 after buying an additional 114,664 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2,515.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $178,404,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $107,675,000 after purchasing an additional 29,911 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 0.7% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,792,573 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $71,649,000 after purchasing an additional 12,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,223,038 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $48,885,000 after purchasing an additional 22,152 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of SM stock opened at $40.13 on Friday. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.90 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.67.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The company had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.73 EPS. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.90.

About SM Energy

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.