Congress Asset Management Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in SM Energy Company $SM

Congress Asset Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 91.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 98,924 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,113,851 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in SM Energy in the third quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in SM Energy by 316.7% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,200 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 220.6% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 201.0% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,776 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of SM opened at $31.52 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 1.03. SM Energy Company has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $31.67.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $704.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $764.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 15.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research upgraded SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $30.00 target price on SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

About SM Energy

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.