SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Sold by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 324,126 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 47,202 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of SM Energy worth $14,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in SM Energy by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company's stock worth $274,161,000 after buying an additional 384,675 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,361,149 shares of the energy company's stock worth $102,072,000 after purchasing an additional 28,005 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 0.7% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,792,573 shares of the energy company's stock worth $71,649,000 after buying an additional 12,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 10.2% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,709,927 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $73,920,000 after buying an additional 157,923 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna cut their target price on SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given 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 $51.09.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

SM traded up $0.57 on Friday, reaching $46.03. 1,014,664 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,334,863. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 4.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $34.13 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The company's 50 day moving average is $42.77 and its 200-day moving average is $44.67.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The business had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. SM Energy's dividend 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.