SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.00.

SM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Mizuho set a $34.00 target price on SM Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Susquehanna decreased their target price 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 boosted their price target on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit Global Investments increased its position in SM Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,417 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,748 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,010 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 12,604 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.9%

SM opened at $27.31 on Friday. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $32.26. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.69.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

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.