Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Antero Resources (NYSE:AR)

Key Points

• On Monday, traders purchased 25,256 put options for Antero Resources, marking a significant 234% increase compared to the average daily volume of put options.
• A number of institutional investors have increased their stakes in Antero Resources, with Assenagon Asset Management boosting its position by 133.1% in the first quarter.
• Antero Resources reported a miss in earnings per share for the last quarter, with actual earnings of $0.35 compared to the consensus estimate of $0.68.

Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 25,256 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 234% compared to the average daily volume of 7,562 put options.

Institutional Trading of Antero Resources

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Antero Resources by 133.1% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,743,957 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $151,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137,538 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Antero Resources by 44.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,440,328 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $179,567,000 after buying an additional 1,362,370 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Antero Resources by 145.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 386,725 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $13,555,000 after buying an additional 1,245,101 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Antero Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,314,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Antero Resources by 210.3% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,274,532 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $51,542,000 after buying an additional 863,836 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Antero Resources Stock Down 1.8%

AR traded down $0.60 during trading on Monday, hitting $32.48. The company had a trading volume of 3,448,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,021,421. The company has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.13 and a 200-day moving average of $36.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Antero Resources has a 1-year low of $25.36 and a 1-year high of $44.01.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Antero Resources had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 6.48%. The company's revenue was up 32.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.21) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Antero Resources will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AR shares. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Antero Resources from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $44.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, August 18th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $49.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Antero Resources presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.50.

Antero Resources Company Profile

Antero Resources Corporation, an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the development, production, exploration, and acquisition of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and oil properties in the United States. It operates in three segments: Exploration and Development; Marketing; and Equity Method Investment in Antero Midstream.

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