Invesco Ltd. Sells 96,768 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 695,463 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 96,768 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $26,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SM. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 47.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $10,002,000 after acquiring an additional 80,343 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,048,000. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $833,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,822 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $24,644,000 after acquiring an additional 24,701 shares during the period. Finally, Intrust Bank NA bought a new position in SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth $396,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $22.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 3.75. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.47. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $19.67 and a 52 week high of $51.94.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The business had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $849.44 million. On average, equities analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SM shares. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James cut their target price on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.83.

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.