SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives $42.92 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.92.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SM. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Mizuho lowered their price target on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in SM Energy by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $10,002,000 after purchasing an additional 80,343 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,049 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 2,054 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 349,268 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $13,538,000 after buying an additional 11,191 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 84,538 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,277,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 24,834 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.2%

SM Energy stock opened at $23.14 on Friday. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $19.67 and a 52-week high of $50.77. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 2.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.00.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.20%.

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.