SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

SM Energy (NYSE:SM)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $49.93 and last traded at $49.51, with a volume of 59044 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $49.65.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SM. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 8th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on SM Energy from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on SM Energy from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.86.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 4.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.39 and its 200 day moving average is $39.56.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in SM Energy by 561.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 880 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in SM Energy by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 990 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.