Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $33.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the energy company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.16% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of SM stock opened at $30.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.23 and a 200-day moving average of $39.54. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $26.66 and a 12 month high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The company had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $849.44 million. On average, equities analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In related news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 47.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $10,002,000 after acquiring an additional 80,343 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $259,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $3,048,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 267.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 391,107 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $15,633,000 after purchasing an additional 284,665 shares during the period. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $833,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.