SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Acquired by First Eagle Investment Management LLC

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 240,603 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,300 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $9,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $83,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 16.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SM. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

SM Energy Stock Up 4.1 %

SM stock opened at $29.95 on Friday. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $26.66 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.31.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

About SM Energy

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.