SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price Up 8.3% – Should You Buy?

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) were up 8.3% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $31.03 and last traded at $31.2750. 585,485 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 5,325,030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital raised shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.93.

SM Energy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.97.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. This trade represents a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,108 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 13,777 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,417 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $868,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,748 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 62.9% during the fourth 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. 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.