SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $28.08, but opened at $26.44. SM Energy shares last traded at $25.3130, with a volume of 863,471 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SM Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Stephens increased their target price on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $30.00 price target on SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.31.

SM Energy Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings 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. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 268.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 198.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter worth $20,275,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the second quarter worth $25,179,000. 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.