SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

SM Energy (NYSE:SM – Get Rating) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.25.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of SM Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of SM Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 14th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 26th.

SM Energy Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of SM stock opened at $28.88 on Friday. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $27.92 and a 12 month high of $54.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 4.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.37.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The energy company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $671.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $614.72 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.11% and a return on equity of 34.40%. The firm’s revenue was down 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 20th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 19th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SM Energy news, CEO Herbert S. Vogel acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $31.35 per share, with a total value of $31,350.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 402,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,604,675.05. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SM. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 41.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,075 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 2,348 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 28.4% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 20,390 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,513 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 55.1% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 63,571 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 22,582 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in SM Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 110,627 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,431,000 after acquiring an additional 2,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,226,000. 89.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SM Energy

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SM Energy Co is an independent energy company, which engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its operations are located in Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.