SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Rating Upgraded by TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. TD Cowen currently has $60.00 target price on the energy company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $64.00.

SM has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho dropped their target price on SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Six research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.73.

SM Energy Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE SM opened at $42.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.97. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $34.13 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 4.18.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $634.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $616.63 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 12.54%.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in SM Energy by 6.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $274,161,000 after buying an additional 384,675 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in SM Energy by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,361,149 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $102,072,000 after acquiring an additional 28,005 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 10.2% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,709,927 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $73,920,000 after acquiring an additional 157,923 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in SM Energy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,335,624 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $57,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,611 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 929.6% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,159,488 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $50,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,872 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.