Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC opened a new position in SM Energy, buying 53,015 shares worth about $1.324 million in Q3, and overall institutional/hedge fund ownership stands at roughly 94.56%.
• SM Energy beat quarterly EPS expectations ($0.83 vs. $0.73) but reported revenue of $704.9 million that missed estimates and fell 17.3% year‑over‑year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 (annualized $0.88, ~3.4% yield), while analysts maintain a consensus Hold rating with an average target price of $30.00.

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 53,015 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $1,324,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SM. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in SM Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 316.7% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,200 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 220.6% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,430 shares of the energy company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 201.0% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,776 shares of the energy company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,010 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SM. Mizuho set a $34.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of SM Energy from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of SM Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.00.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SM opened at $25.52 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $20.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.77. SM Energy Company has a 1-year low of $17.45 and a 1-year high of $32.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.03.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $704.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $764.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. SM Energy's revenue was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from SM Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.58%.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company NYSE: SM is an independent energy firm engaged in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company focuses on identifying and exploiting unconventional onshore basins, leveraging advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize resource recovery. SM Energy's operations are supported by an integrated approach to reservoir management and strategic midstream partnerships, enabling efficient transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons.

The company's core asset areas include prolific basins such as the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Rocky Mountain region.

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