Truist Financial Begins Coverage on SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Research analysts at Truist Financial began coverage on shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the energy company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 20.58% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on SM. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $34.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.67.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $31.52 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 1.03. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $31.67.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SM. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in SM Energy by 145.9% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 202,977 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,788,000 after acquiring an additional 120,443 shares during the period. Fearnley Asset Management AS acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $16,379,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 14,421 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.