SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $26.00 to $33.00. The stock had previously closed at $29.50, but opened at $31.04. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. SM Energy shares last traded at $31.6860, with a volume of 646,685 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research raised SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on SM Energy from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings raised SM Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.62.

Key Headlines Impacting SM Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting SM Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyBanc raised its price target to $39 (from $29) and kept an Overweight rating, saying it is resetting its oil price deck after Q1 and views the recent crude/equity selloff as a buying opportunity — a bullish analyst endorsement that supports further upside in SM. Wall Street Upgrades SM Energy
• Positive Sentiment: SM completed its cash tender offer to repurchase up to $1.0B of 8.375% senior notes (assumed in the Civitas merger), retiring high‑coupon paper — this reduces interest expense and refinancing risk, improving near‑term cash flow and credit profile. Tender Offer Final Results
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target to $33 from $26 but maintained a Market Perform rating — a higher target is supportive, though the neutral rating signals limited conviction compared with KeyBanc’s Overweight stance. BMO Price Target Raise

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter worth $31,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in SM Energy by 160.5% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Up 3.9%

The company has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.98. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The business had revenue of $704.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $764.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 15.58%.

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.