SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Trading 6.2% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

by · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM – Get Free Report) rose 6.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $19.27 and last traded at $19.4050. Approximately 1,608,769 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 2,396,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.27.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 12.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho set a $38.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Roth Capital set a $28.00 target price on SM Energy in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $36.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.91.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on SM Energy

SM Energy Trading Up 6.0%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.01 and a 200 day moving average of $24.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The energy company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.08. SM Energy had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 22.03%.The business had revenue of $811.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. SM Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SM. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter worth $18,910,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in SM Energy by 114.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 192,565 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,767,000 after buying an additional 102,619 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its position in SM Energy by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 12,260 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 446,759 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $13,358,000 after buying an additional 64,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 27,536 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $825,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About SM Energy

(Get Free Report)

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.

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