SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives $42.42 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.42.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SM shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $34.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th.

SM Energy Stock Up 4.2%

SM stock traded up $1.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.28. The stock had a trading volume of 2,706,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,011,325. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 2.19. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $19.67 and a 1-year high of $50.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.20%.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 663.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,884,536 shares of the energy company's stock worth $56,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,779 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $44,005,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 169.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,873,860 shares of the energy company's stock worth $56,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,397 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,088,948 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $25,363,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.