SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Cut to Hold at Siebert Williams Shank

Siebert Williams Shank lowered shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on SM. KeyCorp dropped their price target on SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho set a $34.00 price target on SM Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.20.

SM Energy Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of SM opened at $23.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.44 and its 200 day moving average is $21.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $17.45 and a fifty-two week high of $37.11.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.62%.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SM. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $4,134,000. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in SM Energy by 19.9% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,212,775 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,283,000 after purchasing an additional 201,704 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in SM Energy by 33.1% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 294,546 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,278,000 after purchasing an additional 73,240 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in SM Energy by 135.2% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 254,766 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,362,000 after purchasing an additional 146,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $1,709,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.