Insider Buying: SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Director Purchases 7,000 Shares of Stock

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM traded up $0.17 on Thursday, hitting $32.54. The company had a trading volume of 2,303,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,804,391. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $32.17 and a 1-year high of $53.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 4.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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). The firm had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. Analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SM. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $1,353,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 97,424 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,776,000 after purchasing an additional 9,080 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 84,933 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after buying an additional 25,507 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 26,874 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $82,105,000 after buying an additional 42,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho decreased their price target on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.90.

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.