SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Upgraded to “Buy” by TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. TD Cowen currently has $60.00 price target on the energy company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $64.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on SM. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $52.18.

SM Energy Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of SM stock opened at $42.44 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.13 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 4.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.06.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.18% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $634.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $616.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SM. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 929.6% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,159,488 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $50,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,872 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $274,161,000 after buying an additional 384,675 shares in the last quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in SM Energy by 144.7% during the second quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 457,854 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $19,793,000 after acquiring an additional 270,754 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,552,004 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $77,367,000 after acquiring an additional 258,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 391.2% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 310,558 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $13,491,000 after acquiring an additional 247,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.