SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Climb 4.3% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• SM Energy shares rose 4.3% to about $39.12 in Friday trading, while trading volume was significantly below average.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $39.76; Truist recently raised its target to $48.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting $2.19 in EPS and $2.50 billion in revenue, while revenue surged 215.3% year over year. SM Energy also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, yielding about 2.3%.

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) traded up 4.3% during trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $39.02 and last traded at $39.1170. Approximately 686,357 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 4,914,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SM. Truist Financial lifted their target price on SM Energy from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SM Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on SM Energy from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.76.

SM Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $35.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.13. The company has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 0.95.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. SM Energy's payout ratio is 17.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total transaction of $139,722.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,525 shares in the company, valued at $479,457. This trade represents a 22.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total value of $647,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SM. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in SM Energy by 1.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 18,006 shares of the energy company's stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 3.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,108 shares of the energy company's stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2.8% during the second quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 13,777 shares of the energy company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 7.3% during the second quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,677 shares of the energy company's stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 211.2% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 974 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

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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