SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Short Interest Down 17.7% in March

by · The Markets Daily

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SMGet Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 11,966,387 shares, a drop of 17.7% from the March 15th total of 14,534,164 shares. Currently, 5.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,412,019 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 160.5% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in SM Energy by 10,461.5% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in SM Energy by 62.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM Energy stock traded down $2.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.99. 7,671,395 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,842,117. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $33.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.13.

SM Energy (NYSE:SMGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $704.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $764.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SM. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho set a $34.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.31.

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SM Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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