UBS Group Upgrades SM Energy (NYSE:SM) to Strong-Buy

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

SM has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of SM Energy from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of SM Energy from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.93.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of SM Energy stock opened at $29.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $17.45 and a 52-week high of $35.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.24.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The energy company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.42. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 75.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that SM Energy will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ramiro G. Peru sold 24,553 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.98, for a total value of $834,310.94. Following the transaction, the director owned 65,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,456.72. This trade represents a 27.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in SM Energy by 79.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,995,353 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $311,678,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,751 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,257,360 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $118,267,000 after purchasing an additional 107,295 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 205.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,835,718 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $53,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,255 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,721,147 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $50,897,000 after purchasing an additional 56,187 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 198.9% in the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,429,518 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $60,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616,822 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is 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.