SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Holdings Increased by CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,823 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SM. Barclays PLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 47.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $10,002,000 after purchasing an additional 80,343 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the third quarter valued at $259,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the third quarter valued at $3,048,000. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in SM Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $833,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in SM Energy by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,287,815 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $251,324,000 after acquiring an additional 114,664 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SM shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM opened at $22.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 3.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $33.28 and its 200-day moving average is $38.99. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $21.13 and a fifty-two week high of $53.16.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. Equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.98%.

SM Energy Company 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.