SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Rating Increased to Buy at Siebert Williams Shank

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by equities researchers at Siebert Williams Shank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday. The firm presently has a $41.00 price target on the energy company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $30.00. Siebert Williams Shank’s price target points to a potential upside of 31.56% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens increased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on SM Energy from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 price target on SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on SM Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One 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 MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.07.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM opened at $31.17 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.83. The firm has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.73. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $33.25.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in SM Energy by 79.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $311,678,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,751 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 205.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $53,028,000 after buying an additional 1,906,255 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 268.3% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,271,757 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $42,482,000 after buying an additional 1,654,891 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 198.9% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $60,665,000 after buying an additional 1,616,822 shares during the period. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $20,275,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.