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

Shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.06.

AR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Antero Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Antero Resources from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Williams Trading set a $48.00 target price on Antero Resources in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Antero Resources to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Antero Resources from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Antero Resources Stock Performance

Shares of AR opened at $40.70 on Tuesday. Antero Resources has a 12 month low of $24.53 and a 12 month high of $41.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $12.66 billion, a PE ratio of 127.18 and a beta of 3.38.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Antero Resources will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 200,000 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $7,952,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,800,000 shares in the company, valued at $71,568,000. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AR. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Antero Resources by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,086 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Antero Resources by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,516,963 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $43,461,000 after acquiring an additional 88,099 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Antero Resources by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 576,400 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $16,514,000 after acquiring an additional 9,300 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Antero Resources by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 167,882 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $4,810,000 after acquiring an additional 77,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Payden & Rygel raised its holdings in Antero Resources by 1,172.6% in the 3rd quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 49,760 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 45,850 shares during the last quarter. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.