Raymond James Cuts SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target to $40.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price reduced by Raymond James from $59.00 to $40.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the energy company’s stock.

SM has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial upped their price target on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

SM Energy Price Performance

NYSE SM opened at $29.84 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $26.66 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 4.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $37.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.51.

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

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in SM Energy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,287,815 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $251,324,000 after purchasing an additional 114,664 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $179,546,000 after buying an additional 835,929 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2,515.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $178,404,000 after buying an additional 4,292,793 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $142,718,000 after buying an additional 296,601 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $107,675,000 after acquiring an additional 29,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.