Citigroup Increases Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) Price Target to $53.00

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $39.00 to $53.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 29.62% from the company’s current price.

AR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Benchmark upgraded Antero Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Antero Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Antero Resources from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $50.00 target price on Antero Resources in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Antero Resources from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.50.

Antero Resources Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of AR stock opened at $40.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24 and a beta of 0.42. Antero Resources has a 12-month low of $29.10 and a 12-month high of $45.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.97.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.13. Antero Resources had a net margin of 12.02% and a return on equity of 6.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Antero Resources will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Antero Resources

In related news, Director Benjamin A. Hardesty sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $528,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 150,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,610,648. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.33, for a total transaction of $589,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 319,122 shares in the company, valued at $12,551,068.26. This represents a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AR. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Antero Resources in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Antero Resources during the third quarter worth about $30,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Antero Resources by 59.2% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 928 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Antero Resources by 114.2% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 938 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Antero Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

About Antero Resources

Antero Resources Corporation is an independent exploration and production company focused on the development of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and oil properties in the Appalachian Basin of the United States. The company’s operations target the Marcellus and Utica shales, where it applies advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize recovery from its large acreage position. Antero’s portfolio encompasses significant reserves of ethane, propane and other NGLs, alongside dry gas volumes that are positioned to serve both domestic and export markets.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Antero Resources holds approximately 1.8 million net acres of leasehold interests across parts of West Virginia and Ohio.