SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target Lowered to $41.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $54.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SM. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM opened at $29.95 on Thursday. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $37.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.27. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $26.66 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 4.14.

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

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth $55,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth $61,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth $83,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 16.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.