SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $31.44 and last traded at $31.1080, with a volume of 2427864 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on SM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research raised SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.67.

SM Energy Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.68. The company has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a PE ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.47% and a net margin of 20.55%.The business had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $764.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 91,916 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,753,000 after purchasing an additional 19,965 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 43.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 145,922 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,370,000 after buying an additional 44,542 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in SM Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,111 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,040,000 after buying an additional 2,969 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in SM Energy by 44.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in SM Energy in the first quarter valued at $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

About SM Energy

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.