551,769 Shares in SM Energy Company $SM Acquired by Aegis Financial Corp

Aegis Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 551,769 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,204,000. SM Energy comprises 2.9% of Aegis Financial Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SM. Torren Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4,561.1% during the first quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SM Energy news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,456.72. This represents a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SM Energy Stock Up 3.0%

SM stock opened at $33.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. SM Energy Company has a twelve month low of $17.45 and a twelve month high of $35.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.70. The stock has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.73.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 36.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SM. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group began coverage on SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Roth Capital raised SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.53.

SM Energy 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.