SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.23 EPS

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.23, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 3.45%.

SM Energy Trading Down 6.6%

Shares of NYSE SM traded down $2.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.01. The company had a trading volume of 4,888,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,329,137. The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $17.45 and a 12 month high of $35.88.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is presently 36.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of SM Energy from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on SM Energy in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in SM Energy by 27.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 91,916 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,753,000 after acquiring an additional 19,965 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 145,922 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 44,542 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 68,111 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 2,969 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 44.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $222,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.