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

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SM. State Street Corp lifted its position in SM Energy by 1.9% during 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 835,929 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $142,718,000 after acquiring an additional 296,601 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $107,675,000 after purchasing an additional 29,911 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,683,131 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $103,998,000 after purchasing an additional 767,779 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $30.60 on Friday. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $26.66 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 3.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.22.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. On average, equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 11.98%.

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.