SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Plans $0.18 Quarterly Dividend

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, June 24th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share by the energy company on Monday, August 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th.

SM Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 210.7% per year over the last three years. SM Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 8.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect SM Energy to earn $8.89 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.1%.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM opened at $46.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.33 and a beta of 4.20. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $32.97 and a 1-year high of $53.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $559.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.21 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. On average, research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.89.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total value of $804,480.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 114,495 shares in the company, valued at $5,756,808.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.