Encompass Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 697,800 SM Energy Company $SM

Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 697,800 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,757,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.29% of SM Energy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 160.5% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in SM Energy by 10,461.5% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 62.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4,561.1% during the 1st quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SM has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on SM Energy from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.53.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

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

SM Energy Price Performance

SM opened at $30.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.99. SM Energy Company has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $35.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy’s dividend 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.