Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,800 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $3,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the third quarter valued at $55,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $83,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 517.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SM Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $30.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 4.14. 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 has a 12-month low of $26.66 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.02 and a 200 day moving average of $39.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The company had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.61%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on SM. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of 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 objective 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. StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.