Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 1,113,851 Shares of SM Energy Company $SM

Congress Asset Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 91.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,924 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,113,851 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.09% of SM Energy worth $1,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in SM Energy by 316.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,200 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 220.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in SM Energy by 201.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,776 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM stock opened at $31.52 on Thursday. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $31.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $704.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. Analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SM. Stephens raised their price objective on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings raised SM Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on SM Energy in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

SM Energy Profile

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.