Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.12.

A number of analysts have recently commented on AR shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Antero Resources from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank set a $53.00 target price on Antero Resources and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho raised shares of Antero Resources from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Wednesday, March 26th.

Antero Resources Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:AR opened at $36.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $39.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.96. Antero Resources has a fifty-two week low of $24.53 and a fifty-two week high of $44.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a PE ratio of 42.21 and a beta of 0.68.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.10. Antero Resources had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 4.01%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Antero Resources will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Antero Resources news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 1,061,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.82, for a total value of $43,350,309.34. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,551,690.66. This represents a 96.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 25,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.86, for a total transaction of $1,004,472.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 306,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,229,805.34. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,125,200 shares of company stock worth $45,887,466 over the last three months. 6.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Antero Resources

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Antero Resources by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,574,973 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,036,603,000 after buying an additional 214,060 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,661,491 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $689,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201,429 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,829,263 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $414,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274,760 shares in the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC increased its position in Antero Resources by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 6,355,724 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $222,768,000 after acquiring an additional 231,068 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Antero Resources by 44.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,440,328 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $179,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,370 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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