Traders Buy High Volume of Antero Midstream Call Options (NYSE:AM)

Key Points

• Unusually heavy call-option activity targeted Antero Midstream, with traders purchasing 4,863 calls—242% above the typical daily volume of 1,423.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with one Buy and five Hold ratings. The consensus rating is Hold, with a $24.50 price target versus the reported $22.88 share price.
• Antero Midstream reported quarterly EPS of $0.27, matching estimates, while revenue rose 7.1% year over year to $327.24 million. The company also paid a $0.225 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 3.9% annualized yield.

Antero Midstream Corporation (NYSE:AM - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 4,863 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 242% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,423 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Antero Midstream from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $24.00 target price on Antero Midstream in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Antero Midstream from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Antero Midstream has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $24.50.

Insider Transactions at Antero Midstream

In other Antero Midstream news, insider Sheri Pearce sold 16,000 shares of Antero Midstream stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.01, for a total transaction of $352,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 83,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,846,639. The trade was a 16.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brooks J. Klimley sold 5,000 shares of Antero Midstream stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.27, for a total transaction of $106,350.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 68,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,450,699.08. The trade was a 6.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Antero Midstream

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Antero Midstream by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 733,861 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $13,056,000 after purchasing an additional 216,416 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new position in Antero Midstream during the fourth quarter worth approximately $939,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Antero Midstream by 9.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 867,200 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $19,772,000 after purchasing an additional 77,936 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Antero Midstream in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,883,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Antero Midstream by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,592,910 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $28,338,000 after purchasing an additional 254,088 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.97% of the company's stock.

Antero Midstream Price Performance

Antero Midstream stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.88. 866,865 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,587,647. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $22.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.14. Antero Midstream has a 1 year low of $16.96 and a 1 year high of $23.83. The company has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The pipeline company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27. The company had revenue of $327.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.43 million. Antero Midstream had a net margin of 32.41% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Antero Midstream will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Antero Midstream Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Antero Midstream's dividend payout ratio is presently 107.14%.

Antero Midstream Company Profile

Antero Midstream Corporation is a publicly traded midstream service provider that was established in 2014 as a spin-off from Antero Resources. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the company owns, operates and develops midstream infrastructure to support the gathering, compression, processing, transportation and storage of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil. Antero Midstream plays a critical role in connecting upstream production in the Appalachian Basin to end-market pipelines and processing facilities.

The company's core operations include a network of gathering pipelines and compression stations that serve the Marcellus and Utica shale formations across West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

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