Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the energy company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.98% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on SM. TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of SM Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho set a $38.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM opened at $21.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.34. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $19.67 and a 12-month high of $46.42.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $792.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SM. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 122.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,723 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 9,751 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in SM Energy by 2.5% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,258 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in SM Energy by 31.8% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,704 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $860,000 after buying an additional 6,928 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC grew its stake in SM Energy by 31.7% during the first quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 162,849 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,877,000 after buying an additional 39,165 shares during the period. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in SM Energy by 11.9% during the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 46,039 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after buying an additional 4,880 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.