SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Truist Financial

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by analysts at Truist Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Mizuho set a $34.00 target price on SM Energy in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings raised SM Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $30.41 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.03. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $17.45 and a twelve month high of $32.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.68.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $704.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 205.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $53,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,255 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 268.3% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,271,757 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $42,482,000 after buying an additional 1,654,891 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in SM Energy by 198.9% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $60,665,000 after buying an additional 1,616,822 shares in the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP bought a new position in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,275,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,179,000. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company (NYSE: SM) is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy’s operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company’s core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.