SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Receives $42.50 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Key Points

• SM Energy Company has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from eleven research firms, with one sell, six hold, three buy, and one strong buy ratings.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings reported a 25.0% year-over-year revenue increase and an EPS of $1.50, surpassing estimates by $0.27.
• SM Energy announced a $0.20 quarterly dividend with a 2.8% yield, reflecting a payout ratio of 11.30%.

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.50.

SM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial cut shares of SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd.

SM Energy Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:SM traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $28.74. 1,417,276 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,049,825. The company's 50 day moving average is $26.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.96. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $47.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 2.29.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $792.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 69.5% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 200.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in SM Energy by 1,097.9% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,138 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in SM Energy by 172.8% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy in the first quarter valued at $45,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.