William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 243,682 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 24.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 733,538 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 243,682 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.64% of SM Energy worth $28,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SM. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2,515.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company's stock worth $178,404,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292,793 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,059,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 214.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 519,302 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $20,128,000 after buying an additional 354,297 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 267.4% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 391,107 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $15,633,000 after buying an additional 284,665 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 136.5% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 484,119 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $19,350,000 after buying an additional 279,417 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of SM stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.68. 10,003,134 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,703,475. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 4.14. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $26.66 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.77.

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

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SM shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.00.

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.