Matador Resources Company (NYSE:MTDR) Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in Matador Resources by 7.7% in Q1, now holding approximately 263,008 shares valued at about $13.4 million.
• Insider trading revealed that CEO Joseph Wm Foran purchased 5,000 shares at around $40.86 each, increasing his ownership by 10.93%.
• Matador Resources announced a $400 million stock buyback program, aiming to reacquire up to 7.8% of its shares, indicating potential undervaluation of the stock.

Royce & Associates LP reduced its holdings in shares of Matador Resources Company (NYSE:MTDR - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 263,008 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 21,837 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.21% of Matador Resources worth $13,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Matador Resources by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,768 shares of the energy company's stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Matador Resources by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 607,356 shares of the energy company's stock worth $34,170,000 after purchasing an additional 21,466 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Matador Resources by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 131,136 shares of the energy company's stock worth $7,378,000 after purchasing an additional 39,550 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Matador Resources during the fourth quarter worth $1,367,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Matador Resources by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,555,553 shares of the energy company's stock worth $706,375,000 after purchasing an additional 187,633 shares during the last quarter. 91.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MTDR. TD Cowen upgraded Matador Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Bank of America began coverage on Matador Resources in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Matador Resources from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Matador Resources from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Matador Resources from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matador Resources news, COO Christopher P. Calvert purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $41.13 per share, with a total value of $61,695.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 36,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,501,245. This trade represents a 4.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Thomas Elsener purchased 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $40.10 per share, for a total transaction of $30,075.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 111,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,458,999.70. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 13,850 shares of company stock valued at $559,573 over the last three months. 5.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Matador Resources Stock Performance

Shares of MTDR traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $52.42. 389,579 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,711,754. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Matador Resources Company has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $64.04. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $48.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.37.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The energy company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $895.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $892.86 million. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 22.57%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Matador Resources Company will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Matador Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.30%.

Matador Resources declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to repurchase up to 7.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Matador Resources Profile

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.