Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $36.00 target price on the oil and natural gas company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $26.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.08% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AR. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Antero Resources in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark lowered shares of Antero Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.69.

Antero Resources Stock Performance

AR traded up $0.13 on Wednesday, reaching $29.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,596,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,774,547. Antero Resources has a 1 year low of $19.91 and a 1 year high of $30.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 38.31 and a beta of 3.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.15.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. Antero Resources had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 2.10%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Antero Resources will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Antero Resources news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 206,978 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.15, for a total transaction of $5,412,474.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,793,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,187,525.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 206,978 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.15, for a total transaction of $5,412,474.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,793,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,187,525.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sheri Pearce sold 28,009 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 106,698 shares in the company, valued at $2,805,090.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 467,280 shares of company stock worth $12,153,605 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Antero Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AR. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 81.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Antero Resources in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Antero Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Antero Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

Antero Resources Company Profile

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.