Summit Global Investments Trims Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Summit Global Investments lowered its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,445 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 328 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in SM Energy were worth $444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $10,002,000 after purchasing an additional 80,343 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $259,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $3,048,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in SM Energy by 267.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 391,107 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $15,633,000 after acquiring an additional 284,665 shares during the period. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $833,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho decreased their price target on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

SM Energy Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $31.83 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $26.66 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share (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 net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. Equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

Insider Activity

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.