SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target Cut to $45.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SM. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $53.00 price target (up from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on SM Energy from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.64.

SM Energy Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $36.77 on Tuesday. SM Energy has a 12-month low of $34.76 and a 12-month high of $53.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 33.89%. The firm had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 2,515.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $178,404,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292,793 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 929.6% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,159,488 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,872 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in SM Energy by 2,217.1% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 818,032 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $32,697,000 after purchasing an additional 782,728 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $274,161,000 after purchasing an additional 384,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in SM Energy by 267.4% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 391,107 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $15,633,000 after purchasing an additional 284,665 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

About SM Energy

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.