Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $29.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the energy company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 2.73% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on SM. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $30.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.29.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $32.90. The company had a trading volume of 498,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,152,728. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.06 and its 200-day moving average is $22.99. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $17.45 and a twelve month high of $33.25. The company has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 0.73.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The business’s revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 27.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 91,916 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,753,000 after acquiring an additional 19,965 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 145,922 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 44,542 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,111 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 2,969 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 44.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $222,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.