SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Hits New 12-Month High at $50.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $50.00 and last traded at $50.00, with a volume of 3857 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SM shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James decreased 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. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of SM Energy from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on SM Energy from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.86.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.68. The company has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 4.20.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,897,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 574,120 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $22,230,000 after acquiring an additional 123,126 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in SM Energy by 90.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 169,483 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,720,000 after buying an additional 80,653 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,492,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.