Short Interest in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Rises By 17.5%

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 14,858,909 shares, an increase of 17.5% from the February 12th total of 12,643,929 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,482,437 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 13.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 13.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 9,482,437 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on SM. Susquehanna cut their price target on SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reduced their target price 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. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $30.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $27.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,692,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,032,562. SM Energy has a one year low of $17.45 and a one year high of $32.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.43 and its 200 day moving average is $21.65.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $704.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy 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 will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 15.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,212,775 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,283,000 after acquiring an additional 201,704 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in SM Energy by 33.1% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 294,546 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,278,000 after purchasing an additional 73,240 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in SM Energy by 135.2% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 254,766 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,362,000 after purchasing an additional 146,444 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in SM Energy during the third quarter valued at $1,190,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in SM Energy by 33.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,990 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 20,497 shares during the last quarter. 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.