SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $36.97, but opened at $35.91. SM Energy shares last traded at $35.2380, with a volume of 665,033 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Roth Capital upgraded SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners started coverage on SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.38.

SM Energy Trading Down 2.3%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.22. The firm has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 18.20%.SM Energy’s revenue was up 215.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SM Energy news, Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total transaction of $139,722.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,525 shares in the company, valued at $479,457. The trade was a 22.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total transaction of $647,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $544,379.10. This represents a 54.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SM. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 135.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 57,623 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after buying an additional 33,181 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 19.7% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 2,989 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,489,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy in the second quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in SM Energy by 1.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 18,006 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its operations focus on acquiring and developing oil and gas properties and producing hydrocarbons from onshore assets in the United States.

The company’s principal operations are concentrated in the Permian Basin of West Texas and the South Texas region. SM Energy has also expanded its U.S. operating portfolio through acquisitions, including assets in Utah’s Uinta Basin.