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

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.9333.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SM shares. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on SM Energy from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of SM Energy from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $47.00 in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, June 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. The trade was a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,025,229,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $378,288,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $199,602,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 79.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $311,678,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,751 shares during the period. Finally, Webs Creek Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the second quarter worth $53,257,807,000. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Up 4.8%

SM Energy stock opened at $35.38 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a one year low of $17.45 and a one year high of $35.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 0.73.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. SM Energy had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 18.20%.The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.32%.

About SM Energy

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.