SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.90.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Mizuho dropped their target price on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial raised their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SM opened at $30.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 4.11. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $29.43 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $849.44 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. On average, equities analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 8,206 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,970 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 97,800 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,791,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,718 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,321 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.