SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Share Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• SM Energy shares broke above their 200-day moving average, reaching $35.88 and last trading near $35.29 versus the $31.85 200-day average.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $39.81; several firms recently raised targets as high as $47.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while paying a $0.22 quarterly dividend. However, two insiders recently sold shares, and institutional investors own approximately 94.56% of the stock.

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $31.85 and traded as high as $35.88. SM Energy shares last traded at $35.2890, with a volume of 2,348,556 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SM shares. Roth Capital upgraded shares of SM Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of SM Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.81.

SM Energy Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.85.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 215.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. SM Energy's payout ratio is 17.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total transaction of $647,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $544,379.10. The trade was a 54.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total value of $139,722.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,525 shares in the company, valued at $479,457. The trade was a 22.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Torren Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4,561.1% in the 1st quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Its operations focus on onshore properties in the United States, with activities concentrated in major producing regions such as the Permian Basin in West Texas and the South Texas Eagle Ford.

The company's products include crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids, which it sells to energy marketers, midstream companies, and other purchasers.

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