SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Upgraded at Seaport Research Partners

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by equities researchers at Seaport Research Partners to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.93.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM opened at $37.51 on Wednesday. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $38.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.89. The company has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 0.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. SM Energy had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 18.20%.The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total transaction of $647,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $544,379.10. This represents a 54.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the second quarter worth about $1,025,229,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $378,288,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 79.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $311,678,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,751 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $199,602,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in SM Energy by 2,798.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,257,236 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $189,414,000 after purchasing an additional 7,006,855 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.