Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Grows Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 31.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 132,267 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,582 shares during the quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned 0.12% of SM Energy worth $5,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SM. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in SM Energy by 2,515.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $178,404,000 after buying an additional 4,292,793 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 2,217.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 818,032 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $32,697,000 after purchasing an additional 782,728 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 267.4% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 391,107 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $15,633,000 after purchasing an additional 284,665 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 136.5% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 484,119 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $19,350,000 after purchasing an additional 279,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in SM Energy by 1,375.8% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 172,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,875,000 after buying an additional 160,345 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.90.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM opened at $39.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.59. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.90 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.17%.

SM Energy Company 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.