SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Trading Down 8% – What’s Next?

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) fell 8% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $19.25 and last traded at $20.2830. 3,168,716 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 6,569,376 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.05.

SM Energy News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting SM Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS topped expectations, helping investor sentiment despite lower top-line results — SM reported $0.83 EPS vs. $0.73 consensus. Zacks: SM Q4 Earnings Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Board approved a 10% quarterly dividend increase to $0.22/share (annualized yield ~4.1%), signaling cash-return priority and supporting the rally.
• Positive Sentiment: Stephens raised its SM price target to $49 after SM divested some South Texas assets — an analyst upgrade that can lift investor conviction. Yahoo: Stephens Raised Target
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~16.7% in February, reducing potential downside pressure from short sellers and increasing the chance of short-covering support.
• Positive Sentiment: Company reported record full-year 2025 net production (75.5 MMBoe) following the Civitas merger — a long-term operational positive. TipRanks: Record 2025 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Company released full earnings materials and the Q4 call transcript/presentation — useful for investors digging into guidance, capex, and hedging details. Seeking Alpha: Q4 Presentation InsiderMonkey: Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue fell ~17% YoY to $705M and missed estimates (~$764M); realized commodity prices slid and company production edged down in the quarter — these are the core reasons for caution. Zacks: Revenue Fall
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 EPS is substantially lower than the prior-year quarter ($1.91), highlighting volatility from pricing/production and keeping near-term earnings risk elevated. Yahoo: Mixed Q4 Results

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Mizuho set a $34.00 price objective on SM Energy in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. Stephens increased their target price on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.20.

SM Energy Trading Up 9.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.85.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.65% and a net margin of 20.55%.SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 14,421 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% in the 4th 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 period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 174.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 75,969 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 48,270 shares during the period. Finally, CacheTech Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 156,553 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,927,000 after purchasing an additional 52,877 shares during the period. 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.