Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group began coverage on shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR - Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $47.00 price target on the energy company's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MTDR. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Matador Resources from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Matador Resources in a research note on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Matador Resources from $72.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Matador Resources from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Matador Resources has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.73.

Matador Resources Stock Performance

MTDR stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,037,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,579,407. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 2.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.37. Matador Resources has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $66.89.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The energy company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.25. Matador Resources had a net margin of 25.26% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.87 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Matador Resources will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Matador Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.78%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Robert T. Macalik acquired 1,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $47.98 per share, with a total value of $57,576.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,487,380. This trade represents a 4.03 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul W. Harvey acquired 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $55.20 per share, with a total value of $33,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 27,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,541,018.40. The trade was a 2.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 21,350 shares of company stock valued at $1,100,769. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matador Resources

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTDR. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Matador Resources by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 190,035 shares of the energy company's stock worth $9,391,000 after acquiring an additional 26,289 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Matador Resources during the third quarter worth $300,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matador Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $423,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Matador Resources by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 22,753 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 5,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Matador Resources by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,008,421 shares of the energy company's stock worth $54,122,000 after buying an additional 107,827 shares during the period. 91.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Matador Resources

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.