Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys New Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 184,993 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,619,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.16% of SM Energy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in SM Energy by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,212,775 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,283,000 after purchasing an additional 201,704 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in SM Energy by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 294,546 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,278,000 after purchasing an additional 73,240 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 135.2% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 254,766 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $6,362,000 after purchasing an additional 146,444 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,190,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 33.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 81,990 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after buying an additional 20,497 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SM opened at $26.76 on Tuesday. SM Energy Company has a twelve month low of $17.45 and a twelve month high of $32.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.66.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $704.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $764.40 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 13.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 15.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Siebert Williams Shank downgraded SM Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded SM Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

About SM Energy

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.