SMH Capital Advisors Inc. Buys New Stake in SM Energy Company $SM

SMH Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 37,400 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,263,000. SM Energy accounts for about 4.8% of SMH Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in SM Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $1,025,229,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in SM Energy in the second quarter valued at $378,288,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in SM Energy in the second quarter valued at $199,602,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in SM Energy by 79.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $311,678,000 after buying an additional 4,426,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webs Creek Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the second quarter valued at $53,257,807. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SM Energy news, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total transaction of $647,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $544,379.10. This trade represents a 54.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total value of $139,722.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $479,457. This trade represents a 22.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.59.

SM Energy Stock Down 7.5%

SM stock opened at $37.37 on Tuesday. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $41.56. The company has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.23. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 215.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 17.32%.

SM Energy Profile

SM Energy Company is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include acquiring prospective acreage, drilling and completing wells, and managing producing properties in U.S. onshore oil and gas basins.

The company’s operations are primarily concentrated in Texas, including the Midland Basin in West Texas and the Eagle Ford shale region in South Texas. SM Energy focuses on development of unconventional resources and uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies to produce hydrocarbons from shale and other tight-rock formations.

Founded in 1908 as St.