SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Up 7.5% – Time to Buy?

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s stock price shot up 7.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $20.37 and last traded at $20.4520. 3,162,346 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 5,971,958 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SM. Roth Mkm set a $28.00 price objective on SM Energy in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research cut shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $34.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.20.

SM Energy Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The energy company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.08. SM Energy had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 22.03%.The company had revenue of $811.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. SM Energy’s revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 12.62%.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 160.5% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 10,461.5% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 316.7% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,200 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. 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.