SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Down 4% – Should You Sell?

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) fell 4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $42.60 and last traded at $42.74. 194,226 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 1,678,390 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Tudor Pickering raised shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Stephens boosted their target price on SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

SM Energy Stock Down 3.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 4.14.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. The company 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%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. Analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 11.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $274,161,000 after purchasing an additional 384,675 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in SM Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,287,815 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $251,324,000 after purchasing an additional 114,664 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2,515.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $178,404,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292,793 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $107,675,000 after purchasing an additional 29,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 1.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,361,149 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $102,072,000 after acquiring an additional 28,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.