SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $33.25 and last traded at $32.1710, with a volume of 5173093 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their price target on SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Stephens increased their target price on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.67.

SM Energy Stock Down 1.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy in the third quarter valued at about $4,619,000. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 19.9% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,212,775 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,283,000 after buying an additional 201,704 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $1,190,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 135.2% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 254,766 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,362,000 after acquiring an additional 146,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 16.3% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,731,350 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $92,202,000 after acquiring an additional 524,105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.