Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Boosts Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 28.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 104,545 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,438 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE owned 0.09% of SM Energy worth $5,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $213,326,000 after purchasing an additional 493,427 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,685,000 after buying an additional 64,781 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 5.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,547,315 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,351,000 after buying an additional 83,588 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth $50,075,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 44.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,163,332 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,126,000 after buying an additional 358,253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Susquehanna upped their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on SM Energy from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.89.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM traded up $0.43 on Monday, hitting $43.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,975,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,717,049. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $29.51 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 4.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.49.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $559.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.21 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. As a group, research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.69 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.29%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $804,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 114,495 shares in the company, valued at $5,756,808.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.