SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

SM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on SM Energy from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.93.

SM Energy Price Performance

NYSE SM opened at $30.23 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $35.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $30.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 36.97%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 79.5% during the 1st 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 last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,257,360 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $118,267,000 after purchasing an additional 107,295 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 205.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $53,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,255 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,721,147 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,897,000 after purchasing an additional 56,187 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in SM Energy by 198.9% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $60,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616,822 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.