SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Posted by Geri Gentry on Oct 5th, 2026

SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM – Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.38.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SM. Stephens decreased their price target on SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on SM Energy from $36.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of SM Energy from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of SM Energy from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners began coverage on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “sell” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on SM Energy

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total value of $139,722.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,525 shares in the company, valued at approximately $479,457. The trade was a 22.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of SM Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total value of $647,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $544,379.10. The trade was a 54.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SM Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cim Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 7.3% in the second quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,677 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 14.2% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,551 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 40,675 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in SM Energy by 135.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 57,623 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 33,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,189 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:SM opened at $35.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $34.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.69. SM Energy has a 1-year low of $17.45 and a 1-year high of $41.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.95.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 7th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

SM Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

SM Energy Company is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Its operations focus on onshore properties in the United States, with activities concentrated in major producing regions such as the Permian Basin in West Texas and the South Texas Eagle Ford.

The company’s products include crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids, which it sells to energy marketers, midstream companies, and other purchasers.