Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.44.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Antero Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $44.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $48.00 price objective on Antero Resources in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th.

Antero Resources Stock Performance

AR opened at $34.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.91 and a beta of 3.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.45 and a 200 day moving average of $34.31. Antero Resources has a fifty-two week low of $24.53 and a fifty-two week high of $42.63.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.14. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.74% and a net margin of 2.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Antero Resources will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total value of $7,952,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,800,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,568,000. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Antero Resources

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AR. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Antero Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $140,020,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Antero Resources by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,661,491 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $689,135,000 after buying an additional 2,201,429 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 133.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,743,957 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $151,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137,538 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Antero Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,980,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Antero Resources by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,829,263 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $414,628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274,760 shares during the last quarter. 83.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.