SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target Lowered to $55.00 at Stephens

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price lowered by Stephens from $62.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on SM. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Raymond James dropped their price target on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.83.

SM Energy Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $21.75 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $30.29 and its 200 day moving average is $37.82. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $19.67 and a 52 week high of $51.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 3.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. On average, equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.98%.

Insider Activity

In other SM Energy news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SM. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 200.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy by 80.7% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 517.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.