JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 835,929 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,632,255 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 835,929 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $179,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,059,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in SM Energy by 214.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 519,302 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $20,128,000 after buying an additional 354,297 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $142,718,000 after buying an additional 296,601 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,924,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,404,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM opened at $29.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 4.14. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $26.66 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.35.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The firm had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $849.44 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 11.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SM. StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James lowered their price target 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. Truist Financial boosted 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. Finally, Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.