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

Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.22.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in SM Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $274,161,000 after acquiring an additional 384,675 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 1.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,361,149 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $102,072,000 after acquiring an additional 28,005 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 10.2% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,709,927 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $73,920,000 after acquiring an additional 157,923 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,685,000 after buying an additional 64,781 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,335,624 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $57,739,000 after buying an additional 4,611 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $39.82 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 4.18. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $34.13 and a 12-month high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $634.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $616.63 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.18% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.29%.

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.