SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.40.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SM. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,614,000. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 1,733.5% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 102,307 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after acquiring an additional 96,727 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $710,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in SM Energy by 4.8% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 593,241 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,646,000 after acquiring an additional 27,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in SM Energy by 19.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 764,118 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,093,000 after purchasing an additional 124,450 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of SM opened at $45.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 4.18. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $53.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.18% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $634.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $616.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.54%.

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.