Susquehanna Lowers SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target to $46.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price objective decreased by Susquehanna from $48.00 to $46.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SM. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Tudor Pickering raised SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.73.

SM Energy Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $43.28 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.12. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.13 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 3.52. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 4.18.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 11.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in SM Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $477,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in SM Energy by 6.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 65,932 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,287,000 after buying an additional 3,768 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in SM Energy by 9.4% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,434 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $428,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.