Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,857,207 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 986,196 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of SM Energy worth $346,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,209,870 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $104,026,000 after buying an additional 300,866 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,731,350 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $92,202,000 after acquiring an additional 524,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,710,106 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $66,979,000 after purchasing an additional 17,930 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,289,314 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $56,569,000 after buying an additional 415,454 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in SM Energy by 19.9% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,212,775 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,283,000 after purchasing an additional 201,704 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $23.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.85. The company has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.14. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $33.13.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $764.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.16%.

Key Headlines Impacting SM Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting SM Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS topped expectations, helping investor sentiment despite lower top-line results — SM reported $0.83 EPS vs. $0.73 consensus. Zacks: SM Q4 Earnings Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Board approved a 10% quarterly dividend increase to $0.22/share (annualized yield ~4.1%), signaling cash-return priority and supporting the rally.
• Positive Sentiment: Stephens raised its SM price target to $49 after SM divested some South Texas assets — an analyst upgrade that can lift investor conviction. Yahoo: Stephens Raised Target
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~16.7% in February, reducing potential downside pressure from short sellers and increasing the chance of short-covering support.
• Positive Sentiment: Company reported record full-year 2025 net production (75.5 MMBoe) following the Civitas merger — a long-term operational positive. TipRanks: Record 2025 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Company released full earnings materials and the Q4 call transcript/presentation — useful for investors digging into guidance, capex, and hedging details. Seeking Alpha: Q4 Presentation InsiderMonkey: Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue fell ~17% YoY to $705M and missed estimates (~$764M); realized commodity prices slid and company production edged down in the quarter — these are the core reasons for caution. Zacks: Revenue Fall
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 EPS is substantially lower than the prior-year quarter ($1.91), highlighting volatility from pricing/production and keeping near-term earnings risk elevated. Yahoo: Mixed Q4 Results

Analyst Ratings Changes

SM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.20.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.