Continental Resources Inc. shares dipped overnight to as little as $31 each from a market close of about $55.50 as sellers heard of—but possibly did not read—an SEC filing SC13D ownership statement.

SeekingAlpha posted at 6:39 p.m. CDT Feb. 9 that founder and chairman Harold “Hamm slashes stake.”

“Continental shares fell as low as $31.21 in the minutes after the disclosure was filed and hovered in the low- to mid-$30s for more than 30 minutes before bouncing back, according to Bloomberg,” a SeekingAlpha editor wrote.

Wells Fargo Securities LLC lead energy analyst Nitin Kumar issued a “Flash Comment” at 10:50 p.m. CDT: “Losing the Forest for the Leaves.”

Hamm reported in the SEC filing after hours having reduced his shares to 86.5 million or 23.7% of the 364.3 million outstanding of which he had held some 77.5%.

“After reviewing the document and speaking with the company,” Kumar reported, “we note that the stated purpose of the transaction is for 'estate planning purposes.’

“Specifically, shares owned collectively by the Harold Hamm Family LLC are being distributed pro-rata to its members that include Mr. Hamm and his descendants.”

Further, “the ‘Dividend and Dissolution Agreement’ appears to put restrictions on the ability of the members to sell or transfer their shares and Mr. Hamm is still the managing shareholder of this group.

“Thus, we believe fears of a liquidation of Mr. Hamm’s holdings—or regarding his health and well-being—seem unfounded,” Kumar concluded.

After the “Hamm slashes stake” headline at SeekingAlpha, it reported, “The 13D filing said the distribution of shares to Hamm's children was done for estate planning purposes; as a result, five Hamm children now each own some $2.3 billion in Continental shares.”

Shares were trading at $58 later this morning, after opening at $55. Kumar has a $64 target on the stock.

“Although traditionally viewed as a ‘beta’ stock, CLR has been delivering exceptional operational and financial results with consecutive quarters of strong free cash flow beats. A deep bench of projects in the both the Williston and Anadarko assets provide commodity flexibility that can help management deliver more consistent FCF.

“While valuation at our commodity price deck is at a slight premium to peers, we believe the execution and management alignment with shareholders merit a more positive stance. We rate the shares Overweight.”

 

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