River Road Asset Management LLC Has $68.54 Million Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,768,416 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 24,157 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $68,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,287,815 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $251,324,000 after buying an additional 114,664 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 2,515.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $178,404,000 after buying an additional 4,292,793 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $107,675,000 after purchasing an additional 29,911 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,255,841 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $48,676,000 after purchasing an additional 32,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,234,890 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $47,864,000 after purchasing an additional 25,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SM shares. StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price objective (up previously from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $27.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 4.14. 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 1-year low of $26.66 and a 1-year high of $53.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.00 and its 200-day moving average is $40.70.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. Sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.98%.

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.