DRW Securities LLC Buys New Stake in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• DRW Securities LLC has acquired a new stake in SM Energy Company, purchasing 36,178 shares valued at approximately $1,084,000.
• SM Energy recently reported earnings of $1.50 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.23, indicating a strong year-over-year revenue increase of 25%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.8% with a low payout ratio of 11.30%.

DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 36,178 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $1,084,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 388,639 shares of the energy company's stock worth $11,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 461,618 shares of the energy company's stock worth $13,825,000 after acquiring an additional 128,026 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 19,470 shares of the energy company's stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 730.4% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 346,986 shares of the energy company's stock worth $10,392,000 after acquiring an additional 305,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,731,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Susquehanna increased their price target on SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial downgraded SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.50.

SM Energy Trading Down 4.8%

Shares of NYSE SM traded down $1.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $26.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,801,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,644,487. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 2.46. The business's fifty day moving average price is $27.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.51. SM Energy Company has a 52-week low of $19.67 and a 52-week high of $46.42.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $792.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. SM Energy's revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. Analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.30%.

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.