Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Makes New Investment in SM Energy Company $SM

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 31,237 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $974,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SM. Center for Financial Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 101.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,101,082 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,332,000 after acquiring an additional 555,128 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 91.5% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 56,076 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 26,800 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 97.4% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 55,976 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 27,616 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in SM Energy by 6,620.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 77,818 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 76,660 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $29.91 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.09. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.73. SM Energy Company has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $35.88.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 7.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.97%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,456.72. This trade represents a 27.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SM. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on SM Energy from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

SM Energy Profile

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.