SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.38.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SM shares. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on SM Energy from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital upgraded SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In related news, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total value of $647,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $544,379.10. This trade represents a 54.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total transaction of $139,722.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $479,457. The trade was a 22.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 1.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 18,006 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 3.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,108 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 13,777 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,677 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 4,561.1% in the 1st quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $35.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.80. SM Energy has a one year low of $17.45 and a one year high of $41.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The company’s revenue was up 215.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.32%.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Its operations focus on onshore properties in the United States, with activities concentrated in major producing regions such as the Permian Basin in West Texas and the South Texas Eagle Ford.

The company’s products include crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids, which it sells to energy marketers, midstream companies, and other purchasers.