SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Stephens

Stephens began coverage on shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $63.00 price target on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on SM. Mizuho boosted their price target on SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $55.63.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM stock opened at $49.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $29.15 and a 1 year high of $53.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.81 and a beta of 4.15. The business’s 50-day moving average is $48.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.15.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.13. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 31.80%. The firm had revenue of $559.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.21 million. Analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total value of $804,480.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 114,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,075,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 72.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,054,503 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $81,461,000 after purchasing an additional 865,480 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 848.7% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 877,739 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $33,986,000 after purchasing an additional 785,222 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $213,326,000 after purchasing an additional 493,427 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 44.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,163,332 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,126,000 after purchasing an additional 358,253 shares during the period. 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.