Antero Resources Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AR)

Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 31,213 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 220% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,742 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Antero Resources from $49.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Antero Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Antero Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.00.

Antero Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AR opened at $36.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 0.57. Antero Resources has a twelve month low of $29.10 and a twelve month high of $44.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.38). Antero Resources had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 11.73%.The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.07) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Antero Resources will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Antero Resources news, insider Brendan E. Krueger purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.35 per share, for a total transaction of $166,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 295,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,868,831.95. This represents a 1.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Antero Resources in the third quarter valued at about $77,294,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Antero Resources by 140.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,467,536 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $116,371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,023,828 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Antero Resources by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,970,390 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $267,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,977 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Antero Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,737,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Antero Resources by 676.5% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,632,627 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $54,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,377 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.