Zacks Research Upgrades SM Energy (NYSE:SM) to “Hold”

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SM. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho set a $34.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.20.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM opened at $21.66 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.14. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $17.45 and a fifty-two week high of $39.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.99.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new position in SM Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,134,000. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 19.9% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,212,775 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,283,000 after buying an additional 201,704 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 33.1% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 294,546 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,278,000 after buying an additional 73,240 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in SM Energy by 135.2% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 254,766 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,362,000 after buying an additional 146,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in SM Energy in the second quarter valued at $1,709,000. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Company Profile

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.