Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 24,371 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 151,869 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 24,371 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $5,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in SM Energy by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,471 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 2,344 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in SM Energy by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 276,048 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $10,689,000 after buying an additional 108,803 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its position in SM Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 24,300 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth $2,254,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 84.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 43,450 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,682,000 after buying an additional 19,861 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $50.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 4.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $25.03 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 34.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SM. StockNews.com upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp raised their price target on SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.57.

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.