Readystate Asset Management LP Has $230,000 Stock Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Readystate Asset Management LP cut its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,953 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SM. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth $50,075,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 289.7% in the first quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,647,133 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,422 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy during the third quarter valued at about $46,492,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 88.5% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,229,142 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $86,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,602 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 405.0% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,183,200 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,086,000 after acquiring an additional 948,900 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $48.03. 1,300,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,590,986. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 4.20. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $25.03 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $45.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.83.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.86.

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.