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

Key Points

• Stock traders have significantly increased their activity in Antero Resources by purchasing 28,082 put options, marking a 244% rise compared to its average daily volume.
• Institutional investors own 83.04% of Antero Resources, with several firms, like Huntington National Bank, significantly increasing their stakes in the company.
• Analysts have mixed views on Antero Resources, with price targets ranging from $32.00 to $49.00, reflecting varying confidence in the stock's future performance.

Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 28,082 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 244% compared to the average daily volume of 8,155 put options.

Institutional Trading of Antero Resources

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Antero Resources by 91.3% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 656 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 6.4% during the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,451 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 5.0% during the first quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 7,105 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 10.1% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,054 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 64.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,046 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Antero Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Antero Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $49.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Roth Capital cut shares of Antero Resources from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $44.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, August 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Antero Resources Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE AR traded down $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $31.78. 546,148 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,949,067. The business's 50-day moving average price is $32.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.44. Antero Resources has a twelve month low of $25.36 and a twelve month high of $44.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27 and a beta of 0.56.

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

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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