Sippican Capital Advisors Sells 575 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Sippican Capital Advisors decreased its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,325 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 575 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors’ holdings in SM Energy were worth $633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $342,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 132,267 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,127,000 after buying an additional 31,582 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,854 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 1,533 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 24,834 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $53.00 price target (up from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.90.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SM opened at $40.07 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $34.90 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.57.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.67 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

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.