Morgan Stanley Increases Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) Price Target to $26.00

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $24.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential downside of 10.96% from the company’s previous close.

AR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Antero Resources from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on Antero Resources from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James upped their target price on Antero Resources from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Antero Resources from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Antero Resources from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.18.

Antero Resources Price Performance

Shares of AR stock traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $29.20. The stock had a trading volume of 3,931,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,948,617. Antero Resources has a one year low of $19.91 and a one year high of $30.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $24.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95 and a beta of 3.30.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 2.10% and a net margin of 5.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Antero Resources will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Antero Resources

In related news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 232,293 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total value of $6,004,774.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,550,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Antero Resources news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 232,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total value of $6,004,774.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $77,550,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 206,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,793,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,187,525.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 467,280 shares of company stock worth $12,153,605. Insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Antero Resources by 1.4% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 30,771 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its position in Antero Resources by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 10,688 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its position in Antero Resources by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 114,910 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,606,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Antero Resources by 0.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,589 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,969,000 after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Antero Resources by 4.5% during the first quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,676 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Antero Resources

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.