SM Energy Company (SM) Stock Forecast and Price Target (2026)
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
15 analysts covering SM Energy Company (SM) carry an average price target of $38.40 as of August 2026, +18.1% against the $32.52 price at the time of the pull. The published targets run from $32.00 to $52.00, a spread of 52% of the average, so the disagreement is moderate. The rating split is 10 buy, 5 hold, 0 sell. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
SM analyst price targets
SM analyst data as of August 2026, sourced from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a forecast Walnut endorses, and targets are typically set on a 12-month view. Verify current figures before deciding.
The average target of $38.40 sits above the $32.52 price, +18.1%. The median is $37.00, and where the two differ the median is the steadier read, because one unusually high or low target cannot drag it.
What the SM target range actually tells you
The published targets span $32.00 to $52.00. That gap is 52% of the average target, which counts as moderate disagreement. That is a fairly typical spread: enough agreement that the average means something, enough disagreement that it should not be treated as precise.
The useful move is to read the high target as one bull scenario and the low target as one bear scenario, then ask which set of assumptions you find more plausible. Both cases are worked through on the SM is it a buy page.
Recent analyst actions on SM
| Firm | Action | Target | Prior | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raymond James | Lowered (Outperform) | $48.00 | $55.00 | July 21, 2026 |
| Susquehanna | Raised (Neutral) | $32.00 | $31.00 | July 21, 2026 |
| UBS | Initiated (Buy) | $36.00 | - | July 15, 2026 |
| Truist Securities | Lowered (Buy) | $37.00 | $39.00 | July 7, 2026 |
| Stephens & Co. | Lowered (Overweight) | $52.00 | $61.00 | July 7, 2026 |
| Mizuho | Lowered (Outperform) | $37.00 | $38.00 | July 7, 2026 |
| Roth Capital | Raised (Buy) | $32.00 | $30.00 | June 22, 2026 |
| Mizuho | Raised (Outperform) | $38.00 | $34.00 | May 27, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Initiated (Outperform) | $55.00 | - | May 20, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Raised (Equal-Weight) | $32.00 | $29.00 | May 18, 2026 |
| Truist Securities | Raised (Buy) | $39.00 | $38.00 | May 12, 2026 |
| Susquehanna | Raised (Neutral) | $31.00 | $30.00 | May 11, 2026 |
The most recent published rating actions on SM within the last six months, from Yahoo Finance. Each row is dated because a target only means something alongside the date it was set. Walnut is not an investment adviser and does not endorse any of these views.
In the last six months there have been 6 raises and 4 cuts among these actions. The direction of revisions is often more telling than the level, because it shows which way informed opinion is moving.
How analysts rate SM
Of the analysts with a published rating, 10 say buy, 5 say hold, and 0 say sell, so 67% carry a buy. That buy share has risen over the last three months, so sentiment is drifting more positive.
Read the distribution rather than the label. Sell ratings are rare across the entire market for structural reasons, so a stock with no sell ratings is unremarkable, while even a handful of them is worth understanding.
Why a SM price target is not a prediction
- It is a 12-month model output. An analyst picks assumptions for revenue, margin, and a multiple, and the target falls out of the arithmetic. Change one assumption and the target moves a lot.
- The distribution is skewed. Sell-side coverage carries far more buy ratings than sell ratings across the whole market, so the average is not a balanced vote.
- Targets follow price as often as they lead it. Revisions frequently arrive after a move, not before, which is why a rising target is weak evidence on its own.
- Nobody is scored on it. There is no cost to a target that never gets close, so treat accuracy as unverified unless you check the firm's record yourself.
What could move SM from here
In short: the drivers cited most often are Civitas merger and multi-basin scale, Oil-weighted production growth, Deleveraging and capital returns. The risk cited most often against it is sM's earnings and cash flow are tightly tied to volatile crude oil and natural gas prices, and a sustained drop in oil could pressure the shares toward the mid-teens.
Both sides are worked through properly, with the high and low targets used as the bull and bear anchors, on the SM is it a buy page. This page deliberately stops at the numbers.
Investing in SM Energy Company with AI
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FAQ
What is the price target for SM Energy Company (SM)?
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The average analyst price target for SM is $38.40 as of August 2026, across 15 analysts. That is +18.1% against the $32.52 price at the time of the data pull, so the consensus sits above where the stock trades. The median target, which is less distorted by one extreme view, is $37.00. Targets move constantly; verify the current figure before relying on it.
How high could SM go?
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The highest published target is $52.00, which is +59.9% against the $32.52 price. That is one analyst's most optimistic case, not a ceiling and not a forecast. The lowest is $32.00. The gap between them is the honest answer to this question: analysts who all follow SM Energy Company closely disagree by 52% of the average target, so treat any single number as one scenario.
How many analysts cover SM?
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15 analysts publish estimates on SM as of August 2026. Of those with a published rating, 10 say buy, 5 hold, and 0 sell, so 67% carry a buy rating. More coverage usually means the consensus is better informed, though it also means the obvious points are already in the price.
Are analyst price targets for SM accurate?
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Treat them as informed opinion, not measurement. Two things are worth knowing. Sell-side ratings skew positive across the market, and SM is no exception at 67% buy ratings, so the distribution is not a balanced vote. And targets tend to follow the share price at least as often as they lead it, getting raised after a stock has already run. They are most useful as a read on what the informed consensus expects, and least useful as a prediction of where the price lands.
Has the SM price target been raised or cut recently?
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In the last six months there have been 6 raises and 4 cuts among the published actions on SM. The most recent was Raymond James, which lowered its target to $48.00 from $55.00 on July 21, 2026. The direction of revisions often tells you more than the level, because it shows which way the informed view is moving.
Is analyst sentiment on SM improving?
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Over the last three months the share of analysts rating SM a buy has been rising. That is a shift in opinion, not in the business, and it often lags the news that caused it. It is worth watching alongside the target revisions rather than on its own.
Will SM go up in 2026?
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Nobody knows, including the analysts publishing targets. What the numbers on this page tell you is where informed opinion currently sits and how much it disagrees with itself, which is genuinely useful and completely different from a prediction. The risk most often cited against SM Energy Company: SM's earnings and cash flow are tightly tied to volatile crude oil and natural gas prices, and a sustained drop in oil could pressure the shares toward the mid-teens. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice, and does not publish price targets of its own. The analyst figures on this page come from a August 2026 data pull of published third-party research, are approximate, and change constantly. Verify current figures with your broker before acting on them.