Morgan Stanley Boosts Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) Price Target to $27.00

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $26.00 to $27.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AR. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Benchmark cut shares of Antero Resources from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $30.69.

Antero Resources Price Performance

Shares of AR opened at $28.86 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.21. Antero Resources has a fifty-two week low of $19.91 and a fifty-two week high of $30.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 37.47 and a beta of 3.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Antero Resources had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 2.10%. Equities analysts predict that Antero Resources will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 232,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total transaction of $6,004,774.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $77,550,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 232,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total transaction of $6,004,774.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $77,550,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sheri Pearce sold 28,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $736,356.61. Following the sale, the insider now owns 106,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,805,090.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 467,280 shares of company stock valued at $12,153,605 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Antero Resources

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Antero Resources by 1,311.8% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 960 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Antero Resources by 81.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Antero Resources by 195.2% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Antero Resources during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Antero Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.