SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Now Covered by Analysts at Truist Financial

Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $51.00 target price on the energy company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on SM. Stephens initiated coverage on SM Energy in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They set an overweight rating and a $63.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of SM Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $55.11.

SM Energy Price Performance

NYSE SM opened at $49.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 4.16. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $29.15 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $48.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $559.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.21 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.29%.

Insider Activity at SM Energy

In related news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were 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 approximately $5,756,808.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,992,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,373,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 123,126 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,685,000 after purchasing an additional 64,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in SM Energy by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 198,380 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,681,000 after purchasing an additional 21,102 shares during the period. 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.