Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Lowers Stock Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 41.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,000 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 74,500 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.09% of SM Energy worth $4,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in SM Energy by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $213,326,000 after acquiring an additional 493,427 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 72.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,054,503 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $81,461,000 after buying an additional 865,480 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,685,000 after buying an additional 64,781 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 5.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,547,315 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,351,000 after buying an additional 83,588 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $50,075,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $804,480.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 114,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.57.

SM Energy Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $47.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.72. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $27.37 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 4.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $559.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.21 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 31.80%. On average, analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.29%.

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.