SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho boosted their target price on SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $52.57.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM opened at $50.01 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 4.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.19. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $25.03 and a 12-month high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 34.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 665.6% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 689 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 163,582 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $8,155,000 after buying an additional 2,723 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $477,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 31.1% during the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 13,351 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 3,171 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 12.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 842,960 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $42,022,000 after buying an additional 91,507 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.