SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.57.

Several research firms have commented on SM. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Susquehanna raised their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in SM Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 509.7% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 567 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 54.9% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 581 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 665.6% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 689 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of SM stock opened at $51.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.48. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.03 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 4.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.72.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.29%.

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.