SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price Down 4.6% – Time to Sell?

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s stock price dropped 4.6% on Monday . The company traded as low as $26.20 and last traded at $26.32. Approximately 171,077 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 2,208,783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial cut shares of SM Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $44.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 15th. TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.08.

SM Energy Trading Down 5.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 2.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $792.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in SM Energy by 69.5% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in SM Energy by 200.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in SM Energy by 1,097.9% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,138 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently 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.