LPL Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Antero Midstream Corporation (NYSE:AM)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Antero Midstream Corporation by 11.4%, owning a total of 355,245 shares valued at approximately $6.39 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have raised their target price for Antero Midstream from $17.00 to $19.00, with some firms changing their ratings from "hold" to "buy."
• Antero Midstream declared a quarterly dividend of $0.225 per share, yielding 4.9%, with a payout ratio of 94.74%.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Antero Midstream Corporation (NYSE:AM - Free Report) by 11.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 355,245 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,468 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.07% of Antero Midstream worth $6,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AM. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in Antero Midstream in the first quarter valued at about $51,269,000. SIR Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Antero Midstream in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,058,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Antero Midstream by 7,769.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,028,014 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $15,513,000 after buying an additional 1,014,951 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Antero Midstream by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,105,379 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $61,950,000 after buying an additional 753,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Antero Midstream by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,770,853 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,722,000 after buying an additional 436,091 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.97% of the company's stock.

Antero Midstream Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of AM traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.19. 1,808,283 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,004,210. The company has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15 and a beta of 0.97. Antero Midstream Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $13.99 and a fifty-two week high of $19.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average is $18.04 and its 200-day moving average is $17.48.

Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The pipeline company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $305.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $292.70 million. Antero Midstream had a net margin of 39.53% and a return on equity of 21.67%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Antero Midstream Corporation will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Antero Midstream Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were given a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. Antero Midstream's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brooks J. Klimley sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $94,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 73,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,390,417.60. This represents a 6.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AM shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Antero Midstream from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Antero Midstream from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Antero Midstream from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st.

About Antero Midstream

Antero Midstream Corporation owns, operates, and develops midstream energy assets in the Appalachian Basin. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Water Handling. The Gathering and Processing segment includes a network of gathering pipelines and compressor stations that collects and processes production from Antero Resources' wells in West Virginia and Ohio.