Susquehanna Boosts SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target to $51.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price increased by Susquehanna from $42.00 to $51.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the energy company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $52.57.

SM Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SM opened at $50.01 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 4.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $25.03 and a 1-year high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 665.6% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 689 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 163,582 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,155,000 after purchasing an additional 2,723 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $477,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 31.1% during the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 13,351 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 3,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 12.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 842,960 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $42,022,000 after purchasing an additional 91,507 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.