Truist Financial Increases SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target to $45.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Truist Financial from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the energy company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price suggests a potential upside of 2.60% from the stock’s previous close.

SM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.90.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $43.86 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 4.14. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $34.76 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.75.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The business had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $274,161,000 after purchasing an additional 384,675 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in SM Energy by 1.9% during the third 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 last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in SM Energy by 2,515.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $178,404,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292,793 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $107,675,000 after acquiring an additional 29,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,792,573 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $71,649,000 after acquiring an additional 12,669 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.