SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.28 EPS

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28, Briefing.com reports. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $634.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $616.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

SM Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of SM stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,979,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,766,214. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $34.13 and a 1-year high of $53.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.77. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 4.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SM shares. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Susquehanna upped their price target on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $804,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 114,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.