SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,173 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,142 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 561.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 880 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 59.7% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 990 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $50.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 4.20. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $25.03 and a 1-year high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.57.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 10.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SM. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.29.

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.