SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price Up 5.7% – Here’s What Happened

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s share price traded up 5.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $19.06 and last traded at $19.1990. 365,707 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,088,959 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on SM. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Mizuho set a $34.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research upgraded SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital set a $28.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.00.

SM Energy Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.07.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The energy company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.08. SM Energy had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 22.03%.The company had revenue of $811.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $838.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in SM Energy by 0.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,921,769 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $147,876,000 after acquiring an additional 30,951 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 8.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,585,624 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $114,503,000 after purchasing an additional 375,754 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in SM Energy by 16.3% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,731,350 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $92,202,000 after purchasing an additional 524,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,710,106 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $66,979,000 after buying an additional 17,930 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 198.9% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $60,665,000 after buying an additional 1,616,822 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.