Brokerages Set SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Target Price at $36.93

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.5333.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SM shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Roth Capital raised SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SM Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on SM Energy from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total transaction of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 65,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,456.72. This trade represents a 27.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SM. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 160.5% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in SM Energy by 10,461.5% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 4,561.1% during the first quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 62.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM opened at $32.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 0.73. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $17.45 and a 1-year high of $35.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 36.97%.

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.