Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 15,689 Shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR)

Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR - Free Report) by 115.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,239 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 15,689 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Matador Resources were worth $1,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MTDR. Webs Creek Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Matador Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $37,894,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Matador Resources by 200.8% in the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 21,300 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 14,219 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Matador Resources by 156.0% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 77,570 shares of the energy company's stock worth $4,364,000 after purchasing an additional 47,266 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its position in Matador Resources by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 60,885 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,425,000 after acquiring an additional 7,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Matador Resources by 242.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,975 shares of the energy company's stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 6,357 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Matador Resources

In related news, CEO Joseph Wm Foran bought 5,000 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $40.86 per share, for a total transaction of $204,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 50,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,073,890.16. This trade represents a 10.93 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Van H. Singleton II bought 2,000 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.21 per share, for a total transaction of $106,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 289,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,384,873.35. This represents a 0.70 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 26,350 shares of company stock worth $1,305,069. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MTDR shares. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Matador Resources in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Matador Resources from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on Matador Resources in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Matador Resources from $65.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.33.

Matador Resources Price Performance

NYSE:MTDR traded down $1.49 on Wednesday, reaching $39.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,252,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,587,297. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 2.74. Matador Resources has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $66.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.18.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The energy company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.87 million. Matador Resources had a net margin of 25.26% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Matador Resources will post 8.53 EPS for the current year.

Matador Resources declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy company to purchase up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Matador Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Matador Resources's payout ratio is 16.78%.

Matador Resources Company 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.