SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

SM has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on SM Energy from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial raised SM Energy from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on SM Energy from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Siebert Williams Shank raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.79.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $31.80 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.66. The stock has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.73. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $35.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.97%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total transaction of $834,310.94. Following the sale, the director owned 65,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,456.72. This trade represents a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Torren Management LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 4,561.1% during the first quarter. Torren Management LLC now owns 839 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 332.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.