Vanguard Group Inc. Has $346.01 Million Stock Holdings in SM Energy Company $SM

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,857,207 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 986,196 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.05% of SM Energy worth $346,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SM. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 44,542 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,111 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,040,000 after buying an additional 2,969 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 44.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $222,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting SM Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting SM Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS topped expectations, helping investor sentiment despite lower top-line results — SM reported $0.83 EPS vs. $0.73 consensus. Zacks: SM Q4 Earnings Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Board approved a 10% quarterly dividend increase to $0.22/share (annualized yield ~4.1%), signaling cash-return priority and supporting the rally.
• Positive Sentiment: Stephens raised its SM price target to $49 after SM divested some South Texas assets — an analyst upgrade that can lift investor conviction. Yahoo: Stephens Raised Target
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~16.7% in February, reducing potential downside pressure from short sellers and increasing the chance of short-covering support.
• Positive Sentiment: Company reported record full-year 2025 net production (75.5 MMBoe) following the Civitas merger — a long-term operational positive. TipRanks: Record 2025 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Company released full earnings materials and the Q4 call transcript/presentation — useful for investors digging into guidance, capex, and hedging details. Seeking Alpha: Q4 Presentation InsiderMonkey: Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue fell ~17% YoY to $705M and missed estimates (~$764M); realized commodity prices slid and company production edged down in the quarter — these are the core reasons for caution. Zacks: Revenue Fall
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 EPS is substantially lower than the prior-year quarter ($1.91), highlighting volatility from pricing/production and keeping near-term earnings risk elevated. Yahoo: Mixed Q4 Results

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM opened at $23.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.79 and a 200 day moving average of $21.85. SM Energy Company has a fifty-two week low of $17.45 and a fifty-two week high of $33.13.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 20.55%.The business had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $764.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen upgraded SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.20.

About SM Energy

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.