Antero Resources Corporation $AR Shares Acquired by M&T Bank Corp

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Antero Resources by 155.2% in Q4, acquiring 29,989 shares to hold 49,318 shares worth $1.699 million.
• Insiders have been selling recently — Director Benjamin Hardesty sold 12,000 shares at $44 and Yvette K. Schultz sold 15,000 shares at $39.33 — leaving insiders with 6.30% ownership.
• Analysts give the stock a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $48.56, and recent analyst upgrades have pushed targets as high as $56.

M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR - Free Report) by 155.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,318 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,989 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Antero Resources were worth $1,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,185,601 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $39,789,000 after acquiring an additional 51,126 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Antero Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $14,791,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of Antero Resources by 103.8% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 436,476 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $14,648,000 after purchasing an additional 222,311 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Antero Resources by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 595,608 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $19,989,000 after purchasing an additional 180,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Antero Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,730,000. 83.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark upgraded shares of Antero Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Williams Trading set a $56.00 price target on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.56.

Antero Resources Stock Performance

NYSE AR opened at $38.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.64. Antero Resources Corporation has a 1-year low of $29.10 and a 1-year high of $45.75.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 6.71% and a net margin of 12.02%.Antero Resources's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Antero Resources Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

About Antero Resources

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.

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