Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,552,556 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,828 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 5.73% of SM Energy worth $253,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SM. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 51.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 517.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,854 shares of the energy company's stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its holdings in SM Energy by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 6,237 shares of the energy company's stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SM. StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Seven 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.00.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE SM traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.48. 1,368,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,886,515. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a PE ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 3.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $51.94. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $27.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.74.

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

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. SM Energy's payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.