SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Stephens

Analysts at Stephens initiated coverage on shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in a research note issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $63.00 price target on the energy company’s stock. Stephens’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 30.57% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.63.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $48.25 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.85. The company has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 4.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $27.98 and a twelve month high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.13. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $559.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.21 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $804,480.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 114,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the first quarter worth $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 509.7% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 567 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in SM Energy by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 581 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 665.6% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 689 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.