SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price Down 5.6% - Time to Sell?

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 5.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $22.30 and last traded at $22.35. Approximately 806,159 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 2,283,665 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SM. Raymond James decreased their price target on SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.00.

SM Energy Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 2.17. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $26.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.76.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $844.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. SM Energy's quarterly revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is 11.20%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. bought 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.36 per share, for a total transaction of $226,520.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 47.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $10,002,000 after buying an additional 80,343 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $445,000. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 51,084 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,801 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in SM Energy by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 21,776 shares of the energy company's stock worth $844,000 after acquiring an additional 3,089 shares during the period. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $833,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.