SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Receives $51.20 Average Price Target from Analysts

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.90.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SM shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on SM Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $53.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in SM Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $833,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in SM Energy by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 21,776 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 51,084 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,980,000 after buying an additional 2,801 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,910 shares of the energy company's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 5,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $445,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SM traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $43.68. 1,370,950 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,453,879. The firm has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 4.14. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $41.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $34.76 and a 52-week high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.67 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

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.