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

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) reached a new 52-week high during trading 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SM. Truist Financial started coverage on SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp decreased their target price on SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research upgraded SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho set a $34.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.67.

SM Energy Trading 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.83.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. SM Energy’s revenue was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 205.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $53,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,255 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 268.3% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,271,757 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $42,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,891 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in SM Energy by 198.9% in the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $60,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616,822 shares during the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP bought a new stake in SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,275,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in SM Energy in the second quarter valued at about $25,179,000. 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.