SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold” Rating

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on SM. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on SM Energy from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Roth Capital set a $28.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.64.

SM Energy Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE SM opened at $18.67 on Monday. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $18.25 and a twelve month high of $46.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 2.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.22.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The energy company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.08. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $811.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $838.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in SM Energy by 12.7% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 8,355 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 52.0% in the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 261,902 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,472,000 after purchasing an additional 89,558 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 30.8% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 107,381 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 25,273 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $539,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 93,828 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 10,435 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About SM Energy

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.