AIA Group Ltd Invests $252,000 in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,503 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in SM Energy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,287,815 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $251,324,000 after purchasing an additional 114,664 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $179,546,000 after buying an additional 835,929 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in SM Energy by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $142,718,000 after acquiring an additional 296,601 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in SM Energy by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $107,675,000 after acquiring an additional 29,911 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in SM Energy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,255,841 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $48,676,000 after acquiring an additional 32,803 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SM. Mizuho lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Seven 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

SM Energy stock opened at $29.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $26.66 and a 1 year high of $53.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.17 and its 200-day moving average is $39.28. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. On average, equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

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.