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

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.20.

Several brokerages have issued reports on SM. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial cut their target price 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 price target on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

SM Energy Stock Up 1.8 %

SM opened at $43.42 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 4.14. SM Energy has a one year low of $34.76 and a one year high of $53.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 3.52.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the business earned $1.73 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.17%.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SM. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in SM Energy by 461.9% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 3,434.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 3,897.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.