Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 482,500 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 28.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,191,500 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 482,500 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 1.04% of SM Energy worth $51,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 461.9% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 509.7% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 567 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 54.9% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 581 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in SM Energy by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 872 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.22.

SM Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

SM Energy stock opened at $40.51 on Wednesday. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $34.13 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The stock has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 4.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 33.18%. The business had revenue of $634.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $616.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that SM Energy will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 11.29%.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.