Wells Fargo & Company Trims SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Target Price to $43.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $48.00 to $43.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the energy company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of SM Energy from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $51.78.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM opened at $44.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 4.18. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.34. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $34.13 and a 1 year high of $53.26.

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

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in SM Energy by 461.9% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 509.7% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 567 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in SM Energy by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 872 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in SM Energy by 66.8% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 829 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.