SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded SM Energy to “strong-buy” from “buy.” Across analysts, the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $37.93.
• SM Energy reported quarterly earnings of $2.19 per share, exceeding the $1.96 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $2.50 billion, up 215.3% year over year and above expectations.
• Institutional ownership is high at 94.56%, with BlackRock, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and other major investors establishing or expanding positions during the second quarter.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on SM. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of SM Energy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Zacks Research lowered SM Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of SM Energy in a report on Monday. Stephens cut their price target on SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on SM Energy from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.93.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $37.34 on Friday. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $17.45 and a 52-week high of $38.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.35 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,025,229,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in SM Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $378,288,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $199,602,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in SM Energy by 79.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company's stock worth $311,678,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,751 shares during the period. Finally, Webs Creek Capital Management LP purchased a new position in SM Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $53,257,807,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

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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