SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $26.79, but opened at $26.00. SM Energy shares last traded at $26.7570, with a volume of 1,066,814 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on SM shares. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho set a $34.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Friday, January 9th. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

SM Energy Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $764.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 15.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SM. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 145.9% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 202,977 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,788,000 after purchasing an additional 120,443 shares in the last quarter. Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new position in SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth $16,379,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in SM Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 14,421 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.