Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Acquires 25,544 Shares of SM Energy Company $SM

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 97.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 51,795 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 25,544 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 91,916 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,753,000 after purchasing an additional 19,965 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in SM Energy by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 145,922 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 44,542 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in SM Energy by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,111 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,040,000 after buying an additional 2,969 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 44.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $222,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SM stock opened at $27.76 on Monday. SM Energy Company has a 52-week low of $17.45 and a 52-week high of $35.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.01.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 7.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. The trade was a 27.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on SM shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on SM Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

SM Energy 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.