Bridgewater Associates LP Trims Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 37.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 303,404 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 180,715 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $11,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SM. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,867 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in SM Energy by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 25,697 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 7,660 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 80,343 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $107,675,000 after buying an additional 29,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 33,173 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of SM stock opened at $22.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 3.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.72. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $51.94.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.44 million. Research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.83.

SM Energy 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.