Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price

SM Energy (NYSE:SMFree Report) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $33.00 to $29.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the energy company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on SM. Susquehanna cut their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.08.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on SM

SM Energy Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of SM stock opened at $27.75 on Monday. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $50.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 2.19.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 25,119 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 3,624 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,822 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $24,644,000 after acquiring an additional 24,701 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA bought a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $396,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in SM Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 393,864 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $15,266,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

About SM Energy

(Get Free Report)

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.

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