Truist Financial Cuts SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target to $38.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price target lowered by Truist Financial from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the energy company’s stock.

SM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $51.78.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM opened at $41.93 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 4.18. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $34.13 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $634.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $616.63 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 33.18%. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 12.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in SM Energy by 6.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $274,161,000 after buying an additional 384,675 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,361,149 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $102,072,000 after purchasing an additional 28,005 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,709,927 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $73,920,000 after purchasing an additional 157,923 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in SM Energy by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,335,624 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $57,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 929.6% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,159,488 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,125,000 after buying an additional 1,046,872 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SM Energy

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.