SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stephens Analyst Says

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Stephens from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the energy company’s stock. Stephens’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 41.51% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on SM. StockNews.com lowered SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho cut their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.18.

SM Energy Stock Down 4.0 %

NYSE SM opened at $40.28 on Friday. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $53.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 4.18.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.07% and a net margin of 33.89%. The business had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 4.4% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 22,916 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth about $200,000. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 0.7% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,792,573 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $71,649,000 after buying an additional 12,669 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 9.6% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,746 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.