SM Energy Company $SM Shares Acquired by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 132.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 475,818 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 271,292 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $14,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total transaction of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,964 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SM shares. Wall Street Zen raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.53.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM stock opened at $33.56 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.80. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $35.88.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 2.6%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 36.97%.

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.