SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price Up 8.3% – Should You Buy?

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) rose 8.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $31.03 and last traded at $31.2750. 585,485 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 5,325,030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Stephens decreased their target price on SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho raised shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.53.

SM Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.78.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. SM Energy had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 18.20%.The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total transaction of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. The trade was a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the second quarter worth about $1,025,229,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in SM Energy by 79.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $311,678,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,751 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in SM Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,257,360 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $118,267,000 after acquiring an additional 107,295 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 205.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $53,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,721,147 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,897,000 after purchasing an additional 56,187 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.