Magnetar Financial LLC Grows Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in SM Energy by 730.4% during the first quarter, now owning 346,986 shares valued at $10.4 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on SM Energy, with Wells Fargo lowering its target price from $33 to $29, while Mizuho raised its price objective from $42 to $44, indicating a range of ratings from Strong Buy to Sell.
• SM Energy reported earnings of $1.50 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and generating a 25% year-over-year revenue increase, along with a quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 730.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 346,986 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 305,199 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC owned about 0.30% of SM Energy worth $10,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SM. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in SM Energy by 69.5% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,017 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 200.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in SM Energy by 1,097.9% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,138 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 172.8% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 80.7% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the energy company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial downgraded SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price on SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen raised SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on SM Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.50.

SM Energy Price Performance

NYSE SM traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.10. The stock had a trading volume of 595,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,235,903. SM Energy Company has a twelve month low of $19.67 and a twelve month high of $46.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 2.46. The firm's 50 day moving average is $26.88 and its 200 day moving average is $26.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.