SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.18% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.67 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM Energy stock traded down $1.69 on Friday, hitting $40.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,378,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,741,451. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.40. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $34.13 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 4.18.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 11.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on SM Energy from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.18.

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.