SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $29.00 to $32.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. SM Energy traded as high as $33.54 and last traded at $33.6410, with a volume of 1190808 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.59.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. National Bank Financial set a $30.00 target price on SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Stephens increased their target price on SM Energy from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded SM Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at $4,619,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter valued at $1,190,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 135.2% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 254,766 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,362,000 after buying an additional 146,444 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 70.6% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 574,107 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $14,335,000 after buying an additional 237,537 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 22.6% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 356,608 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,905,000 after buying an additional 65,732 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.99.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 75.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 36.97%.

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.