SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $54.00 target price on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on SM. Mizuho lifted their target price on SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com lowered SM Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on SM Energy from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $54.89.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM stock opened at $45.14 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $47.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 4.20. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $32.21 and a 52-week high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $559.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.21 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 31.80%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.29%.

Insider Transactions at SM Energy

In other news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $804,480.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 114,495 shares in the company, valued at $5,756,808.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in SM Energy by 44.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,163,332 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,126,000 after acquiring an additional 358,253 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in SM Energy by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 59,202 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in SM Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $280,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in SM Energy by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,547,315 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $61,351,000 after acquiring an additional 83,588 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in SM Energy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 20,125 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. 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.