Mizuho Cuts SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target to $39.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price trimmed by Mizuho from $44.00 to $39.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the energy company’s stock.

SM has been the topic of several other reports. Raymond James Financial cut shares of SM Energy from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.08.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM opened at $27.41 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 2.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $19.67 and a 12-month high of $46.42.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $792.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 69.5% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 200.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 1,097.9% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,138 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 172.8% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the first quarter worth about $45,000. 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.