SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Trading 6.9% Higher - What's Next?

Key Points

• SM Energy shares jumped 6.9% on Tuesday, reaching an intraday high of $28.19 after closing at $26.35 the prior day. Trading volume was below average, with about 3.0 million shares exchanged.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive despite some mixed target changes: SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.00. Recent moves included upgrades from Raymond James Financial and Siebert Williams Shank, while TD Cowen cut its target to $30.
• The company recently posted strong quarterly earnings, with EPS of $1.55 beating estimates of $1.13 and revenue of $1.48 billion topping expectations. SM Energy also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.22, equal to a 3.1% annualized yield.

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) shot up 6.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $28.19 and last traded at $28.1750. 3,014,697 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 5,644,954 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of SM Energy from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $29.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.00.

SM Energy Stock Up 6.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.75.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. SM Energy's payout ratio is 36.97%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. The trade was a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 27.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 91,916 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,753,000 after buying an additional 19,965 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 145,922 shares of the energy company's stock worth $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 44,542 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in SM Energy by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,111 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 2,969 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 44.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter valued at about $222,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.