Truist Financial Upgrades SM Energy (NYSE:SM) to Strong-Buy

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Truist Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

SM has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Mizuho set a $34.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

SM Energy Trading Up 4.7%

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $30.41 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.03. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $32.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.68.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.The firm had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $764.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 160.5% in the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in SM Energy by 10,461.5% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,373 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in SM Energy by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SM Energy

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.