SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target Cut to $30.00 by Analysts at TD Cowen

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price target trimmed by TD Cowen from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the energy company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM opened at $26.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.65. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $32.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.03.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.The firm had revenue of $704.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $764.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SM. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in SM Energy in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 316.7% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,200 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in SM Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 160.5% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 10,461.5% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SM Energy

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.