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 report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on SM. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.08.

SM Energy Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of SM traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,570,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,349,832. The company has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 2.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.20 and a 200 day moving average of $31.24. 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 1 year low of $19.67 and a 1 year high of $49.81.

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

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in SM Energy by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 47,828 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 5,579 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $292,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,234,890 shares of the energy company's stock worth $47,864,000 after purchasing an additional 25,857 shares during the period. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $4,362,000. 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.