American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 296,601 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,682,093 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 296,601 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $142,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 8,206 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 33,392 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 24,739 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,214 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP grew its holdings in SM Energy by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 6,237 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SM Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

SM stock opened at $30.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.02 and a 200 day moving average of $39.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $26.66 and a 52 week high of $53.26.

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). The company had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.