Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Increases Stake in SM Energy Company $SM

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 16.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,731,350 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 524,105 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 3.25% of SM Energy worth $92,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 69.5% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 1,097.9% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,138 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in SM Energy in the first quarter worth $45,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in SM Energy by 332.8% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,887 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in SM Energy by 73.1% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,899 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on SM shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $38.00 price target on SM Energy in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.91.

SM Energy Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $19.58 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.16. SM Energy Company has a 52-week low of $17.58 and a 52-week high of $44.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The energy company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.08. SM Energy had a net margin of 22.03% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $811.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 12.62%.

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.