SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Price Target Lowered to $45.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) had its price target cut by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $47.00 to $45.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the energy company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.79% from the stock’s previous close.

SM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.64.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM Energy stock traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $38.53. 59,170 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,662,287. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $34.76 and a 52-week high of $53.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.05 and its 200 day moving average is $43.90.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.67 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. Analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in SM Energy by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,341,875 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $274,161,000 after buying an additional 384,675 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in SM Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,287,815 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $251,324,000 after purchasing an additional 114,664 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2,515.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,463,443 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $178,404,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,793 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,693,372 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $107,675,000 after buying an additional 29,911 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,361,149 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $102,072,000 after buying an additional 28,005 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

About SM Energy

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.