Susquehanna Boosts SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target to $51.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price objective boosted by Susquehanna from $42.00 to $51.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the energy company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of SM Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James lowered their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $52.57.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:SM opened at $50.01 on Monday. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $25.03 and a fifty-two week high of $53.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 4.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.19.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.35 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 10.48%.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 665.6% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 689 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 990 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.