SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Given New $54.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $50.00 to $54.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the energy company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.37% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of 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 increased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.86.

SM Energy Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE SM traded down $1.10 on Friday, reaching $49.83. 218,236 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,569,059. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $25.20 and a 12 month high of $53.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.85. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82 and a beta of 4.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $213,326,000 after buying an additional 493,427 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,054,503 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $81,461,000 after buying an additional 865,480 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,685,000 after buying an additional 64,781 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $61,351,000 after buying an additional 83,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth $50,075,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.