SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.90.

Several research firms have weighed in on SM. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 461.9% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 3,434.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 3,897.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Down 2.0 %

SM stock opened at $43.24 on Monday. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $34.90 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The business had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.17%.

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.