SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target Raised to $65.00 at KeyCorp

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price target lifted by KeyCorp from $62.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the energy company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $52.57.

SM Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SM opened at $50.01 on Monday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.19. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $25.03 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 4.20.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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 issued 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 dividend yield of 1.44%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $50,075,000. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,492,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,054,503 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $81,461,000 after acquiring an additional 865,480 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 848.7% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 877,739 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,986,000 after acquiring an additional 785,222 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $213,326,000 after acquiring an additional 493,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.