SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Lowered to Underperform Rating by Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) from an outperform rating to an underperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.08.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,343,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,010,807. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $19.67 and a 12 month high of $48.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.04.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 27.61%. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. SM Energy's payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,269,443 shares of the energy company's stock worth $457,320,000 after buying an additional 69,933 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $179,546,000 after acquiring an additional 835,929 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 6.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,909,004 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $117,075,000 after acquiring an additional 226,911 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 51.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in SM Energy by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,683,131 shares of the energy company's stock worth $103,998,000 after purchasing an additional 767,779 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

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.