Truist Financial Initiates Coverage on SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Truist Financial began coverage on shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $51.00 target price on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Stephens began coverage on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They issued an overweight rating and a $63.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut SM Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $55.11.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM opened at $43.35 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $29.51 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 4.15.

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

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.29%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $272,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $331,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 30.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 341,898 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $13,556,000 after acquiring an additional 80,509 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 152,367 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,041,000 after acquiring an additional 2,029 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.