SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Given New $55.00 Price Target at Stephens

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Stephens from $62.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the energy company’s stock. Stephens’ target price points to a potential upside of 150.46% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Mizuho cut their price objective on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.83.

SM Energy Price Performance

NYSE SM opened at $21.96 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $19.67 and a 12-month high of $51.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 3.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company had revenue of $852.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.44 million. Analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. This represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 47.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $10,002,000 after acquiring an additional 80,343 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $259,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,048,000. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $833,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in SM Energy by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,822 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $24,644,000 after purchasing an additional 24,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.