SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Up 6.9% - What's Next?

Key Points

• SM Energy shares rose 6.9% on Wednesday, trading as high as $33.27 after closing at $31.08 the previous day. Trading volume was well below average.
• Analyst sentiment remains supportive, with several firms raising price targets and ratings. The stock now has a consensus Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.07.
• The company reported better-than-expected Q1 results, including EPS of $1.55 versus $1.13 expected, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, or $0.88 annualized.

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) shot up 6.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $33.27 and last traded at $33.2380. 1,187,044 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,847,463 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SM. Weiss Ratings raised SM Energy from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on SM Energy from $26.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised SM Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho lifted their price target on SM Energy from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.07.

SM Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.69 and a 200 day moving average of $24.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 0.72.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. SM Energy's payout ratio is currently 36.97%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 65,964 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,241,456.72. The trade was a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 valued at $311,678,000 after buying an additional 4,426,751 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 205.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $53,028,000 after buying an additional 1,906,255 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 268.3% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,271,757 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $42,482,000 after buying an additional 1,654,891 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in SM Energy by 198.9% in the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $60,665,000 after buying an additional 1,616,822 shares during the period. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP acquired a new position in SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,275,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.