Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Mizuho from $34.00 to $38.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the energy company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 22.56% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.07.

SM Energy Stock Down 2.5%

SM Energy stock opened at $31.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.66. The company has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $17.45 and a fifty-two week high of $35.88.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SM Energy news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,456.72. This represents a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in SM Energy by 27.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 91,916 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,753,000 after buying an additional 19,965 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 145,922 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 44,542 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in SM Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,111 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 2,969 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 44.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the first quarter valued at $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.