SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives Overweight Rating from Stephens

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating restated by stock analysts at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $57.00 price target on the energy company's stock. Stephens' price target would indicate a potential upside of 41.93% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.64.

SM Energy Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE SM traded up $1.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $40.16. 789,737 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,660,065. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 4.15. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.10. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $34.76 and a 1 year high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The firm had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.73 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $178,404,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,793 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in SM Energy by 929.6% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,159,488 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $50,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,872 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in SM Energy by 2,217.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 818,032 shares of the energy company's stock worth $32,697,000 after buying an additional 782,728 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in SM Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company's stock worth $274,161,000 after buying an additional 384,675 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 267.4% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 391,107 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $15,633,000 after buying an additional 284,665 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

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.