SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• SM Energy Company has received an average rating of "Hold" from eleven research firms, with one sell rating, six hold ratings, three buy ratings, and one strong buy rating.
• The company's stock recently traded down 6.2% and has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, along with a significant earnings report exceeding analysts' expectations.
• SM Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, with an annual yield of 3.1% and a payout ratio of 11.30%.

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.0833.

SM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on SM Energy from $44.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial lowered SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th.

SM Energy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SM traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.70. 1,269,506 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,221,689. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 2.46. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $19.67 and a 52-week high of $46.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business's fifty day moving average is $27.06 and its 200-day moving average is $26.03.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $792.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 25.94%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 28.7% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 108,132 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $2,671,000 after acquiring an additional 24,090 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $92,202,000 after acquiring an additional 524,105 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 49.5% during the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 219,898 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $5,434,000 after acquiring an additional 72,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 7.9% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 437,534 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $10,811,000 after acquiring an additional 32,202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

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.