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

Key Points

• Consensus rating "Moderate Buy": Fifteen analysts give SM Energy an average rating of Moderate Buy with a 12‑month average price target of about $33.62 (breakdown: 1 sell, 7 hold, 5 buy, 2 strong buy).
• Heavy institutional accumulation: Major funds including Millennium, Alyeska and Woodline substantially increased positions, and institutional investors/hedge funds now own about 94.56% of the stock.
• Mixed operational results and shareholder payback: SM beat EPS estimates ($0.83 vs. $0.73) but revenue fell 17.3% year‑over‑year, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 (annualized $0.88, ~2.9% yield).

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.6154.

SM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SM Energy from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on SM Energy from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised SM Energy from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 205.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $53,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,255 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in SM Energy by 268.3% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,271,757 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $42,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,891 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in SM Energy by 198.9% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $60,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616,822 shares during the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP acquired a new position in SM Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,275,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in SM Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,179,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SM Energy Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE:SM opened at $30.46 on Friday. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $33.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.39.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.The company's revenue was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. SM Energy's payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

About SM Energy

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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