SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.20

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 27th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share by the energy company on Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th.

SM Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 236.2% annually over the last three years. SM Energy has a payout ratio of 11.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect SM Energy to earn $7.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.1%.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SM traded up $0.54 during trading on Monday, reaching $29.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,723,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,792,351. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $26.66 and a 52 week high of $53.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm's fifty day moving average is $34.41 and its 200 day moving average is $39.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 4.14.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The energy company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.09). SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $852.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $849.44 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other news, Director Barton R. Brookman, Jr. acquired 7,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.36 per share, with a total value of $226,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474,591.76. This trade represents a 91.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on SM. Truist Financial raised their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $59.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.00.

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.