Antero Resources Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:AR)

Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 23,523 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 50% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,670 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Antero Resources news, Director Benjamin A. Hardesty sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $528,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 150,242 shares in the company, valued at $6,610,648. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.33, for a total value of $589,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 319,122 shares in the company, valued at $12,551,068.26. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Antero Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AR. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Antero Resources during the third quarter worth approximately $77,294,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Antero Resources by 111.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,988,300 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $137,437,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099,755 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Antero Resources by 140.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,467,536 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $116,371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,023,828 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,970,390 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $267,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Antero Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $58,831,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Antero Resources from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.60.

Antero Resources Price Performance

Shares of AR traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.82. 3,974,927 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,296,073. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.22. Antero Resources has a 52-week low of $29.10 and a 52-week high of $45.75. The company has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 0.42.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.13. Antero Resources had a net margin of 12.02% and a return on equity of 6.71%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Antero Resources will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Antero Resources Company Profile

Antero Resources Corporation is an independent exploration and production company focused on the development of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and oil properties in the Appalachian Basin of the United States. The company’s operations target the Marcellus and Utica shales, where it applies advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize recovery from its large acreage position. Antero’s portfolio encompasses significant reserves of ethane, propane and other NGLs, alongside dry gas volumes that are positioned to serve both domestic and export markets.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Antero Resources holds approximately 1.8 million net acres of leasehold interests across parts of West Virginia and Ohio.