SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• SM Energy has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 16 research firms, with 10 buy ratings and 6 hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $36.93.
• Recent analyst moves were mixed but generally constructive, including upgrades from Raymond James and Wall Street Zen, while Susquehanna and Mizuho adjusted price targets modestly. This suggests Wall Street remains broadly positive on the stock despite some caution.
• The company reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $1.55 per share on revenue of $1.48 billion, and it also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share for an annualized yield of about 2.9%.

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.9333.

A number of brokerages recently commented on SM. Weiss Ratings upgraded SM Energy from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial upgraded SM Energy from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Mizuho decreased their target price on SM Energy from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the sale, the director owned 65,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. The trade was a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 3.8% during the 2nd 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 lifted its stake in SM Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 13,777 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in SM Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,417 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in SM Energy by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,748 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 62.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:SM opened at $30.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.73. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $35.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.32.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The company's revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.97%.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company NYSE: SM is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy's operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company's core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.

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