Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 29,656 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 499,445 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,656 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.44% of SM Energy worth $19,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SM. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in SM Energy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 544,961 shares of the energy company's stock worth $21,123,000 after buying an additional 5,345 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in SM Energy by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 238,205 shares of the energy company's stock worth $9,233,000 after acquiring an additional 55,600 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $294,000. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in SM Energy by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 195,761 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $7,588,000 after acquiring an additional 33,601 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in SM Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,108,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James dropped their target price on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.00.

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Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM traded up $0.24 during trading on Monday, reaching $21.91. The stock had a trading volume of 422,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,099. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.91 and a 200-day moving average of $38.06. SM Energy has a one year low of $19.67 and a one year high of $51.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 3.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.