Raymond James Reiterates Outperform Rating for SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

SM Energy (NYSE:SM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $34.00 target price on the energy company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $30.00. Raymond James’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 42.43% from the stock’s current price.

SM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.42.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of SM stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $23.87. The company had a trading volume of 561,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,965,044. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $50.77.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 69.5% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 200.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in SM Energy by 1,097.9% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,138 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 172.8% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors 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.