SM Energy (SM) closed at $26.49 in the latest trading session, marking a -3.36% move from the prior day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.1%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.35%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.43%.
Shares of the independent oil and gas company witnessed a loss of 13.78% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Oils-Energy sector with its loss of 7.58%, and the S&P 500's loss of 1.34%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of SM Energy in its upcoming release. On that day, SM Energy is projected to report earnings of $1.87 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 24.67%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $2.05 billion, indicating a 158.24% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $7.3 per share and a revenue of $7.56 billion, demonstrating changes of +34.69% and +139.56%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for SM Energy. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 1.11% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Currently, SM Energy is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that SM Energy has a Forward P/E ratio of 3.75 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 9.43.
The Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 107, positioning it in the top 44% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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SM Energy Company (SM): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).