SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.07% and a net margin of 33.89%. The firm had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM stock traded down $1.69 on Friday, hitting $40.28. 3,384,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,457,898. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 4.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.30. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $53.26.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. This is a boost from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is 11.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SM has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Stephens raised their price target on SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.18.

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.