76,265 Shares in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Purchased by World Investment Advisors LLC

World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 76,265 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,048,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 11.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in SM Energy by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,045 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 32,403 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

NYSE SM opened at $40.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.04. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $34.76 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The company had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 11.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SM. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price target (up previously from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

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.