EP Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New $409,000 Investment in SM Energy Company $SM

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,678 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SM. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in SM Energy by 112.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,115 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,935,000 after purchasing an additional 49,740 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in SM Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,243,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in SM Energy by 96.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 114,609 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 56,160 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $5,610,000 after buying an additional 54,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 666,070 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $12,456,000 after buying an additional 124,448 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In related news, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total transaction of $647,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $544,379.10. The trade was a 54.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SM Energy Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $35.71 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.10. SM Energy Company has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $38.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 18.20%.The business’s revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SM. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $47.00 in a report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a report on Monday, August 17th. Roth Capital raised shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on SM Energy from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.93.

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.