SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Up 8% - Still a Buy?

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $27.06 and last traded at $27.38. Approximately 327,549 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 1,958,338 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SM shares. KeyCorp cut their price target on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens cut their target price on SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho cut their target price on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.08.

SM Energy Trading Down 0.3%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.25. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

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 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 company had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 663.7% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,884,536 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $56,442,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,779 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,005,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 169.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,873,860 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $56,122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,397 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 51.4% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,207,245 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $96,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,363,000. 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.