SM Energy to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.18 (NYSE:SM)

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 26th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of 0.18 per share by the energy company on Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th.

SM Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 210.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. SM Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 5.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect SM Energy to earn $6.15 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.9%.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM traded up $0.37 on Wednesday, hitting $49.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,038,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,628. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $25.03 and a 12 month high of $49.93. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 4.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 34.45%. The company had revenue of $608.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 5.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SM Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 289.7% during the 1st quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,647,133 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,422 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in SM Energy by 88.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,229,142 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $86,825,000 after buying an additional 1,046,602 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 405.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,183,200 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,086,000 after buying an additional 948,900 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 181.8% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,391,860 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $48,478,000 after buying an additional 897,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in SM Energy by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,249,967 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $126,586,000 after buying an additional 849,019 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp decreased their target price on SM Energy from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Susquehanna raised their target price on SM Energy from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Raymond James decreased their target price on SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.86.

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.