SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Given New $54.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $50.00 to $54.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the energy company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 8.37% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.86.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.83. 218,236 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,569,059. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.82 and a beta of 4.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.85. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $25.20 and a 1-year high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.35 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SM. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of SM Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,075,000. Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter worth $46,492,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in SM Energy by 72.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,054,503 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $81,461,000 after acquiring an additional 865,480 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in SM Energy by 848.7% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 877,739 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $33,986,000 after acquiring an additional 785,222 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in SM Energy by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $213,326,000 after acquiring an additional 493,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

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.