Stephens Reaffirms Overweight Rating for SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $57.00 target price on the energy company’s stock.

SM has been the subject of several other reports. Susquehanna reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.64.

SM Energy Stock Up 3.6 %

NYSE:SM opened at $40.16 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.08. The company has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 4.15. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $34.76 and a twelve month high of $53.26. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. Analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 11.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in SM Energy by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 32,403 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in SM Energy by 461.9% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.