StockNews.com Upgrades SM Energy (NYSE:SM) to Buy

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.57.

SM Energy Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $49.81 on Monday. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $25.03 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 4.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.67 and a 200 day moving average of $41.13.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. SM Energy’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $3,373,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 574,120 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $22,230,000 after purchasing an additional 123,126 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in SM Energy by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 169,483 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,720,000 after purchasing an additional 80,653 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $46,492,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $270,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.