SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives $50.64 Consensus PT from Brokerages

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.64.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SM stock opened at $36.59 on Thursday. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $34.76 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 4.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.65. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The company had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. SM Energy’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in SM Energy by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $274,161,000 after purchasing an additional 384,675 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $251,324,000 after buying an additional 114,664 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,292,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $107,675,000 after acquiring an additional 29,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,361,149 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $102,072,000 after acquiring an additional 28,005 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.