Boston Partners Sells 4,843 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Boston Partners trimmed its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,610 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 4,843 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $415,000. Gallacher Capital Management LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 8,206 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in SM Energy by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 232,523 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $9,013,000 after acquiring an additional 14,644 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in SM Energy by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,214 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in SM Energy by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 42,920 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:SM opened at $30.68 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.75. 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 has a one year low of $26.66 and a one year high of $53.26. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The business had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.44 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on SM shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.