UPDATE: Societe Generale Downgrades SM Energy to Hold on Cautious Near-Term Outlook

In a report published Friday, Societe Generale analyst Bob Parija downgraded the rating on SM Energy SM from Buy to Hold, but reiterated the $67.00 price target.

In the report, Societe Generale noted, “As part of a more cautious near-term outlook on the 10 Mid-cap E&Ps that we cover, we downgrade SM Energy today to Hold. See our report, ‘Less is Less: ST caution within our bullish LT outlook' published concurrently with this report. At its current price, we no longer see an attractive reward-to-risk profile – 0.5x vs. the group average of 1.5x – based on our risked NAV analysis nor meet the requisite 15%+ upside necessary for a BUY rating. See page 2 for a reward-to-risk explanation. Our TP remains at $67/share, implying 7.6% TSR upside (including $0.10/share dividend).”

SM Energy closed on Thursday at $62.35.