SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target Lowered to $29.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $33.00 to $29.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the energy company's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $34.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.08.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM traded down $0.38 during trading on Monday, hitting $27.55. 2,256,109 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,021,637. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $50.20. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.72.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. SM Energy's payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in SM Energy by 69.5% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 200.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1,097.9% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,138 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 172.8% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. 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.