SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $31.44 and last traded at $31.1080, with a volume of 2427864 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Siebert Williams Shank cut shares of SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.67.

SM Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.82.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The business’s revenue was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SM. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 160.5% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 10,461.5% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 62.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at $31,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.