Lazard Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in SM Energy Company $SM

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 224.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,795 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 42,778 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in SM Energy by 79.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $311,678,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,751 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,257,360 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $118,267,000 after purchasing an additional 107,295 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 205.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $53,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,255 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,721,147 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,897,000 after purchasing an additional 56,187 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 198.9% during the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $60,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616,822 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SM shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research lowered SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on SM Energy from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the transaction, the director owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. This represents a 27.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE SM opened at $31.92 on Tuesday. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $35.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.73.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 36.97%.

About SM Energy

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.