SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Truist Financial

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by research analysts at Truist Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on SM. Mizuho set a $34.00 price objective on SM Energy in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. 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. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM opened at $30.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $17.45 and a 52-week high of $32.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.68. The company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.03.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 160.5% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 10,461.5% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.