Truist Financial Trims SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Target Price to $49.00

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its target price lowered by Truist Financial from $51.00 to $49.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the energy company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SM Energy from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $54.89.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM opened at $45.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $29.51 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 4.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.11 and its 200-day moving average is $44.55.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $559.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.21 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 31.80%. Sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kenneth J. Knott sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total value of $804,480.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 114,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,756,808.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $213,326,000 after purchasing an additional 493,427 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,685,000 after purchasing an additional 64,781 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in SM Energy by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,552,004 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $77,367,000 after purchasing an additional 258,733 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 5.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,547,315 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,351,000 after buying an additional 83,588 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 44.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,163,332 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,126,000 after buying an additional 358,253 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.