Raymond James Reaffirms Outperform Rating for SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Raymond James in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $34.00 target price on the energy company's stock, up from their prior target price of $30.00. Raymond James' price objective suggests a potential upside of 44.93% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens decreased their target price on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $41.00 price objective on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.42.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM Energy stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,466,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,983,326. SM Energy has a one year low of $19.67 and a one year high of $50.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 2.17. The business's fifty day moving average price is $23.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.31.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,269,443 shares of the energy company's stock worth $457,320,000 after purchasing an additional 69,933 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in SM Energy by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $179,546,000 after buying an additional 835,929 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 6.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,909,004 shares of the energy company's stock worth $117,075,000 after buying an additional 226,911 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 51.4% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,207,245 shares of the energy company's stock worth $96,057,000 after buying an additional 1,088,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,683,131 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $103,998,000 after acquiring an additional 767,779 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SM Energy

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.