SM Energy (NYSE:SM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.18

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, June 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share by the energy company on Monday, August 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th.

SM Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 210.7% per year over the last three years. SM Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 9.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect SM Energy to earn $7.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.7%.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM opened at $49.38 on Wednesday. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $29.15 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 4.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.24.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.13. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 31.80%. The company had revenue of $559.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.21 million. Equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $804,480.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 114,495 shares in the company, valued at $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial initiated coverage on SM Energy in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.11.

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.