Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Increases Stock Position in Antero Resources Corporation $AR

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Antero Resources by 13.3%, adding 58,121 shares to hold 494,597 shares worth about $17.22 million (≈0.16% of the company) at quarter-end.
• Antero beat quarterly estimates, reporting $0.62 EPS vs. $0.49 expected and $1.41 billion in revenue (up 20.8% year-over-year), and has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $48.56 price target.
• Institutional ownership is high at 83.04% while insiders own 6.30%, with recent insider sales including 15,000 shares by Yvette K. Schultz and 12,000 shares by director Benjamin Hardesty.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR - Free Report) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 494,597 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 58,121 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.16% of Antero Resources worth $17,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AR. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in Antero Resources by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,185,601 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $39,789,000 after buying an additional 51,126 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Antero Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $14,791,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $19,989,000 after acquiring an additional 180,390 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Antero Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,730,000. Finally, Colrain Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Antero Resources by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. Colrain Capital LLC now owns 254,550 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $8,543,000 after buying an additional 91,550 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Antero Resources Stock Performance

Shares of AR stock opened at $37.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.42. The company's 50 day moving average is $38.81 and its 200 day moving average is $35.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Antero Resources Corporation has a 52-week low of $29.10 and a 52-week high of $45.75.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 12.02% and a return on equity of 6.71%. Antero Resources's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Antero Resources Corporation will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Antero Resources

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AR. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $50.00 target price on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Williams Trading set a $56.00 target price on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen raised shares of Antero Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $39.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Antero Resources has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.56.

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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