SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Trading Down 3.9% – What’s Next?

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) shares traded down 3.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $27.65 and last traded at $27.7230. 721,398 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 6,836,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Stephens increased their price objective on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $30.00 target price on SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.31.

SM Energy Trading Down 4.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $25.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.05. The firm has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.78.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The firm had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $764.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,417 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,748 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 36.3% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,010 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Finally, First National Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 12,604 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.