Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.19.

AR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company.

Antero Resources Price Performance

Antero Resources stock opened at $28.66 on Tuesday. Antero Resources has a 12-month low of $20.10 and a 12-month high of $36.28. The stock has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.28 and a beta of 3.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last announced its quarterly 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). Antero Resources had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 0.45%. The company had revenue of $978.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.20 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Antero Resources will post 0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 50,000 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.24, for a total value of $1,262,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 248,363 shares in the company, valued at $6,268,682.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Antero Resources

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,066,610 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $813,932,000 after buying an additional 372,450 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,537,261 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $238,985,000 after buying an additional 2,655,604 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,840,690 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $256,380,000 after buying an additional 917,338 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 269.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 3,967,300 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $129,453,000 after buying an additional 2,893,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 9.3% during 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 buying an additional 285,485 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

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.