Analysts Set SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Target Price at $42.92

Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.92.

Several research analysts have commented on SM shares. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 69.5% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 200.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1,097.9% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,138 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 172.8% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of SM stock opened at $23.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $50.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 2.17.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

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.