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

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Raymond James from $59.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the energy company’s stock. Raymond James’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 44.83% from the company’s current price.

SM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM Energy stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Monday, reaching $27.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,009,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,215. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 4.14. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.82. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $26.66 and a 52 week high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 2,515.6% during the 3rd 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 22.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in SM Energy by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,683,131 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $103,998,000 after buying an additional 767,779 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $22,059,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 214.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 519,302 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $20,128,000 after acquiring an additional 354,297 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.