Jupiter Topco LLC Purchases New Stake in SM Energy Company $SM

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 107,345 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,802,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 112.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,115 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,935,000 after buying an additional 49,740 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in SM Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,243,000. Denali Advisors LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,610,000 after acquiring an additional 54,428 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its position in SM Energy by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 666,070 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $12,456,000 after acquiring an additional 124,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA acquired a new stake in SM Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $13,299,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SM shares. Roth Capital raised SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Seaport Research Partners started coverage on SM Energy in a report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. UBS Group started coverage on SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of SM Energy in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded SM Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SM Energy news, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total transaction of $647,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,705 shares in the company, valued at $544,379.10. This trade represents a 54.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SM Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SM opened at $38.38 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.78. SM Energy Company has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $38.94. The company has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. SM Energy had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

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.