SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Rating Upgraded by Seaport Research Partners

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by analysts at Seaport Research Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on SM. Mizuho upgraded SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.93.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $37.51 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $38.94. The company has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a PE ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 0.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 18.20%.The company’s revenue was up 215.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total transaction of $647,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $544,379.10. This represents a 54.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 10,461.5% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 4,561.1% in the 1st quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.