SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.00.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho dropped their target price on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. purchased 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,591.76. The trade was a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SM. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,218 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $10,002,000 after acquiring an additional 80,343 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $259,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,048,000. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $833,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,287,815 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $251,324,000 after buying an additional 114,664 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $22.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.28 and its 200 day moving average is $39.00. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $21.13 and a 1-year high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 3.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $849.44 million. Research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.98%.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.