SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Given New $29.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Williams Trading set a $41.00 target price on SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.08.

SM Energy Trading Down 1.8%

SM traded down $0.51 on Monday, hitting $27.75. The company had a trading volume of 3,122,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,015,772. The company's fifty day moving average price is $23.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.89. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $19.67 and a 1 year high of $50.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 2.19.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 28.63%. The firm had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. SM Energy's revenue was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. SM Energy's payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 393,864 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $15,266,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 47,828 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 5,579 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 635,822 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $24,644,000 after purchasing an additional 24,701 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 105.2% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 68,068 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,696,000 after acquiring an additional 34,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $292,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.