SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives $42.42 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.42.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,269,443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $457,320,000 after acquiring an additional 69,933 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in SM Energy by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $179,546,000 after purchasing an additional 835,929 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in SM Energy by 6.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,909,004 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $117,075,000 after purchasing an additional 226,911 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 51.4% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,207,245 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $96,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,948 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,683,131 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $103,998,000 after purchasing an additional 767,779 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Up 4.2%

SM Energy stock opened at $28.28 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 2.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.98. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $50.20.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The business had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. SM Energy’s revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.20%.

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.