SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Gap Up to $43.35

SM Energy (NYSE:SM)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $43.35, but opened at $44.50. SM Energy shares last traded at $44.06, with a volume of 190,935 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SM shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.11.

SM Energy Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 4.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.39.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $568.21 million. Analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $804,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 114,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth $50,075,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in SM Energy by 848.7% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 877,739 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $33,986,000 after acquiring an additional 785,222 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in SM Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $213,326,000 after acquiring an additional 493,427 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 44.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,163,332 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,126,000 after purchasing an additional 358,253 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 39.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 751,453 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $29,096,000 after purchasing an additional 213,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.