SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Mizuho Analyst Says

Key Points

• Mizuho has increased the price target for SM Energy from $42.00 to $44.00, indicating a potential upside of 62.00% based on the company's previous close.
• SM Energy's stock has seen varied analyst ratings, with one sell rating, seven hold ratings, and two strong buy ratings, while the average target price stands at $42.50.
• In its most recent quarter, SM Energy reported an EPS of $1.50, surpassing the consensus estimate, along with a year-over-year revenue increase of 25.0%.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Mizuho from $42.00 to $44.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the energy company's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Susquehanna upped their price target on SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen raised SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial downgraded SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.50.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SM traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.72. 451,884 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,291,031. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.57. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $19.67 and a 1 year high of $47.69. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $26.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.38.

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

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in SM Energy by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in SM Energy by 12.7% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 8,355 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in SM Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,258 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 16.9% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 25,119 shares of the energy company's stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 272.7% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 433,834 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $12,993,000 after purchasing an additional 317,421 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.