Investors Purchase High Volume of Antero Resources Put Options (NYSE:AR)

Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 19,720 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 278% compared to the typical volume of 5,218 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Antero Resources from $37.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Antero Resources from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Antero Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.13.

Insider Transactions at Antero Resources

In other news, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.24, for a total transaction of $1,262,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 248,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,268,682.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Antero Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AR. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Antero Resources by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,340,434 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $75,761,000 after purchasing an additional 285,485 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Antero Resources in the second quarter worth approximately $1,154,000. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp grew its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 38.5% during the first quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 150,045 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,351,000 after buying an additional 41,725 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Antero Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,544,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Antero Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,022,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

Antero Resources Price Performance

Shares of AR stock opened at $28.71 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.34 and its 200 day moving average is $30.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.55 and a beta of 3.33. Antero Resources has a twelve month low of $20.10 and a twelve month high of $36.28.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and natural gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $978.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $980.20 million. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.45% and a net margin of 1.88%. Research analysts expect that Antero Resources will post 0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Antero Resources

Antero Resources Corporation, an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the development, production, exploration, and acquisition of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and oil properties in the United States. It operates in three segments: Exploration and Development; Marketing; and Equity Method Investment in Antero Midstream.