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

Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 14,315 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 202% compared to the average daily volume of 4,740 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Antero Resources from $37.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded Antero Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Scotiabank upgraded Antero Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Antero Resources from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Antero Resources from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Antero Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.13.

Antero Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Antero Resources stock opened at $28.38 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.90 and a beta of 3.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.23. Antero Resources has a 12 month low of $20.10 and a 12 month high of $36.28.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and natural gas company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $978.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $980.20 million. Antero Resources had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 0.45%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Antero Resources will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Antero Resources

In other news, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.24, for a total transaction of $1,262,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 248,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,268,682.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Antero Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Impact Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Antero Resources during the second quarter valued at $740,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 6.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,056 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Antero Resources during the second quarter valued at $17,307,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 0.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 300,292 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $9,799,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 1,021.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 483,725 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $15,784,000 after acquiring an additional 440,578 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

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.