SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $29.00 to $39.00. The stock had previously closed at $29.50, but opened at $31.04. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. SM Energy shares last traded at $31.6860, with a volume of 646,685 shares.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho set a $34.00 target price on SM Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Siebert Williams Shank cut SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $30.00 price objective on SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,619,000. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in SM Energy by 19.9% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,212,775 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,283,000 after purchasing an additional 201,704 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at about $1,190,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 135.2% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 254,766 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,362,000 after purchasing an additional 146,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 16.3% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,731,350 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $92,202,000 after purchasing an additional 524,105 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.92. The company has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The business had revenue of $704.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $764.40 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.58%.

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.