Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 21,000 SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 21,000 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in SM Energy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,287,815 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $251,324,000 after acquiring an additional 114,664 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2,515.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $178,404,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $107,675,000 after purchasing an additional 29,911 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,792,573 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $71,649,000 after purchasing an additional 12,669 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,223,038 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $48,885,000 after purchasing an additional 22,152 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $53.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.90.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $37.13 on Friday. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $36.13 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 4.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.80. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

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 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The business had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 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.