SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on SM. Zacks Research raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.62.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $29.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $28.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.56. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $33.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.39.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. SM Energy had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.86 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 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 was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 91,916 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,753,000 after acquiring an additional 19,965 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 145,922 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 44,542 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,111 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,040,000 after acquiring an additional 2,969 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 44.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.