Matador Resources Company (NYSE:MTDR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Matador Resources Company (NYSE:MTDR) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.06.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTDR. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $90.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Cowen raised shares of Matador Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Matador Resources in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Matador Resources from $84.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Matador Resources from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th.

Matador Resources Price Performance

NYSE MTDR opened at $51.86 on Thursday. Matador Resources has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $66.89. The stock has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $46.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The energy company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $980.87 million. Matador Resources had a net margin of 24.97% and a return on equity of 18.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Matador Resources will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy company to buy up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Matador Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Matador Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Thomas Elsener acquired 750 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $40.10 per share, with a total value of $30,075.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president owned 111,197 shares in the company, valued at $4,458,999.70. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph Wm Foran bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $40.86 per share, with a total value of $204,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,890.16. The trade was a 10.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 14,850 shares of company stock worth $601,103. Insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Matador Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTDR. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Matador Resources by 262.0% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,517,308 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $85,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,108 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Matador Resources by 2,002.9% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,051,472 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $53,720,000 after buying an additional 1,001,472 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Matador Resources by 7.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,511,643 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $690,310,000 after buying an additional 956,090 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Matador Resources during the first quarter worth approximately $35,715,000. Finally, Webs Creek Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Matador Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,894,000. 91.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Matador Resources Company Profile

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.