Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Makes New Investment in Antero Midstream Corporation $AM

Key Points

• Kesler Norman & Wride LLC opened a new position in Antero Midstream in the fourth quarter, buying 52,780 shares worth about $939,000.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with several large investors adding to their stakes; overall, 53.97% of the stock is held by institutions.
• Antero Midstream reported quarterly EPS of $0.25, missing estimates by $0.01, while revenue came in at $314.21 million, above expectations and up 7.9% year over year. The company also paid a $0.225 quarterly dividend, equal to a 4.2% yield.

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new position in Antero Midstream Corporation (NYSE:AM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 52,780 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $939,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AM. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Antero Midstream by 0.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 180,928 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Antero Midstream by 174.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 83,752 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 53,281 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Antero Midstream by 56.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,874,379 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $69,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,368 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Antero Midstream by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 946,082 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $17,029,000 after buying an additional 43,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Antero Midstream by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 18,106 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 1,009 shares in the last quarter. 53.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Antero Midstream news, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 69,269 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.90, for a total transaction of $1,516,991.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 580,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,714,373.50. This trade represents a 10.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael N. Kennedy sold 100,000 shares of Antero Midstream stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.92, for a total value of $2,192,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,500,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,893,020.48. This trade represents a 6.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 213,269 shares of company stock worth $4,713,681. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Antero Midstream from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Antero Midstream from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Antero Midstream from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Antero Midstream from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Antero Midstream from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $24.00.

Antero Midstream Stock Performance

Shares of AM opened at $21.30 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.29. The stock has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Antero Midstream Corporation has a one year low of $16.77 and a one year high of $23.83.

Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). Antero Midstream had a net margin of 33.90% and a return on equity of 20.38%. The firm had revenue of $314.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $311.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Antero Midstream Corporation will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Antero Midstream Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th were given a $0.225 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 29th. Antero Midstream's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.65%.

About Antero Midstream

Antero Midstream Corporation is a publicly traded midstream service provider that was established in 2014 as a spin-off from Antero Resources. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the company owns, operates and develops midstream infrastructure to support the gathering, compression, processing, transportation and storage of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil. Antero Midstream plays a critical role in connecting upstream production in the Appalachian Basin to end-market pipelines and processing facilities.

The company's core operations include a network of gathering pipelines and compression stations that serve the Marcellus and Utica shale formations across West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

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