Analysts Set SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Target Price at $42.08

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.0833.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SM. Raymond James Financial cut shares of SM Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $44.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 29,815 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in SM Energy by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,718 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth $346,000. GTS Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 11.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 42.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SM opened at $27.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 2.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.02. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $19.67 and a 12-month high of $46.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.27. SM Energy had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 25.94%.The firm had revenue of $792.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $792.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 11.30%.

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.