Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 25,746 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,907 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 52,651 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,039,000 after buying an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in SM Energy by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 37,843 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,445,000 after buying an additional 6,133 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new position in SM Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,140,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in SM Energy by 113.9% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $40.97 on Thursday. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.13 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 4.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.68.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $634.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $616.63 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 33.18%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SM shares. Truist Financial lowered their target price on SM Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.22.

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.