Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 70.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 161,825 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 385,131 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.14% of SM Energy worth $4,818,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $179,546,000 after purchasing an additional 835,929 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $142,718,000 after buying an additional 296,601 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in SM Energy by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,683,131 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $103,998,000 after buying an additional 767,779 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,118,297 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $82,105,000 after acquiring an additional 42,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,449,483 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $56,182,000 after acquiring an additional 140,228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $25.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.39. SM Energy Company has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $48.49.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 27.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on SM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial cut shares of SM Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.08.

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.