Empowered Funds LLC Takes Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 74,383 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,941,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SM. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 3.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,108 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 13,777 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments raised its position in SM Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,417 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,748 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $37.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. SM Energy Company has a 1-year low of $17.45 and a 1-year high of $38.94. The company has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.89.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.23. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 215.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is presently 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other news, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total value of $647,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $544,379.10. This represents a 54.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group started coverage on SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on SM Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on SM Energy from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.93.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.