SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $33.25 and last traded at $32.1710, with a volume of 5173093 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho set a $34.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.67.

SM Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a PE ratio of 5.23 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.92.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The firm had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $764.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SM. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 160.5% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in SM Energy by 10,461.5% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 62.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in SM Energy during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in SM Energy in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.