Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Trims Stock Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. trimmed its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 23.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 166,648 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 51,891 shares during the quarter. SM Energy accounts for approximately 1.0% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. owned about 0.14% of SM Energy worth $7,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SM. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $50,075,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 929.6% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,159,488 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,872 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 848.7% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 877,739 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,986,000 after buying an additional 785,222 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $274,161,000 after buying an additional 384,675 shares during the period. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 144.7% during the 2nd quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 457,854 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $19,793,000 after buying an additional 270,754 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SM shares. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on SM Energy from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on SM Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.22.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $39.82 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.13 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 4.18.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $634.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $616.63 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 33.18%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.29%.

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.