Bank of America Corp DE Sells 295,115 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 36.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 511,462 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 295,115 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.45% of SM Energy worth $19,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 517.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in SM Energy by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,854 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $23.91 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $50.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.16 and its 200 day moving average is $34.47. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 3.52.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Stephens dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.92.

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.