SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target Lowered to $40.00 at Raymond James

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price cut by Raymond James from $59.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the energy company’s stock.

SM has been the topic of several other research reports. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $27.41 on Monday. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $26.66 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.70. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In related news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 114,664 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in SM Energy by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $179,546,000 after buying an additional 835,929 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in SM Energy by 2,515.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $178,404,000 after buying an additional 4,292,793 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in SM Energy by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $142,718,000 after buying an additional 296,601 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 29,911 shares during the period. 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.