Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $33.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the energy company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

SM Energy Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $30.23 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $26.66 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.96 and a 200 day moving average of $39.47. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $852.22 million during 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth $1,353,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 97,424 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,776,000 after acquiring an additional 9,080 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 84,933 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after acquiring an additional 25,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GTS Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 26,874 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 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.