SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) gapped down prior to trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $33.00 to $29.00. The stock had previously closed at $28.26, but opened at $27.56. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. SM Energy shares last traded at $27.09, with a volume of 225,467 shares.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on SM. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 8,206 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in SM Energy by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,970 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in SM Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 97,800 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in SM Energy by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,718 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in SM Energy by 69.5% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.7%

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.82 and its 200 day moving average is $31.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 2.19.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a net margin of 27.61% and a return on equity of 19.90%. The company had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.20%.

About SM Energy

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.