Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 14,089 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,413 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,089 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.10% of SM Energy worth $4,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 144.6% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,357 shares of the energy company's stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 13,215 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4.4% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 22,916 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $916,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 42,249 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in SM Energy by 554.7% in the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,863 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 3,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value 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. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM stock traded up $0.88 on Wednesday, hitting $31.18. 2,113,801 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,671,285. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.73 and a 200 day moving average of $40.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 3.52. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $26.66 and a 12 month high of $53.26.

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

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

About SM Energy

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.