Raymond James Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Antero Resources Corporation $AR

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Antero Resources Corporation by 10.7%, owning 4,423,044 shares worth approximately $178.9 million, as reported in its recent SEC filing.
• Antero Resources reported $0.35 earnings per share for the latest quarter, which fell short of analyst expectations of $0.68, despite a revenue increase of 32.6% year-over-year.
• Several institutional investors, including Dimensional Fund Advisors LP and Invesco Ltd., have significantly increased their holdings in Antero Resources, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,423,044 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 428,167 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 1.42% of Antero Resources worth $178,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AR. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Antero Resources by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 16,778 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Antero Resources by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,306 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 3,518 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Antero Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $9,123,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Antero Resources by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 198,809 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $6,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Antero Resources by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 762,636 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $26,730,000 after purchasing an additional 180,543 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.04% of the company's stock.

Antero Resources Trading Up 0.3%

AR stock traded up $0.1050 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.8050. The company had a trading volume of 3,409,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,089,253. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 0.64. Antero Resources Corporation has a 52-week low of $24.53 and a 52-week high of $44.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.30 billion. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 6.48% and a net margin of 10.13%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 32.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.21) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Antero Resources Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AR has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Antero Resources from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 target price on shares of Antero Resources and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.00.

Antero Resources Profile

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.