SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Director Ashwin Venkatraman Sells 3,650 Shares

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total transaction of $139,722.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $479,457. The trade was a 22.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.11. 3,515,180 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,116,227. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.41. SM Energy Company has a 1-year low of $17.45 and a 1-year high of $38.94.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 17.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SM. Roth Capital upgraded shares of 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.19.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $1,025,229,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $378,288,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $199,602,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2,798.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,257,236 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $189,414,000 after buying an additional 7,006,855 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 79.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $311,678,000 after buying an additional 4,426,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its operations focus on acquiring and developing oil and gas properties and producing hydrocarbons from onshore assets in the United States.

The company’s principal operations are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and the South Texas region. SM Energy has also expanded its U.S. operating portfolio through acquisitions, including assets in Utah’s Uinta Basin.