SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 12,643,929 shares, a decline of 16.7% from the January 29th total of 15,185,089 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 8,169,318 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 11.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Approximately 11.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 8,169,318 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. KeyCorp cut their price target on 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 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,417 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,748 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,010 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 62.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4.8% during the third quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 12,604 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $24.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.76. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $33.13. The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.The company had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $764.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 14.16%.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.