SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.40.

A number of brokerages have commented on SM. Truist Financial reduced their target price on SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. 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, StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $5,614,000. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 1,733.5% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 102,307 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after acquiring an additional 96,727 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $710,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 593,241 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,646,000 after acquiring an additional 27,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in SM Energy by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 764,118 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,093,000 after purchasing an additional 124,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $45.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.75 and a 200 day moving average of $46.19. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 4.18. SM Energy has a one year low of $34.13 and a one year high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.18% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $634.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $616.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.36%.

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.