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

Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 24,956 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 265% compared to the typical volume of 6,830 put options.

Insider Transactions at Antero Resources

In other Antero Resources news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $7,952,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,800,000 shares in the company, valued at $71,568,000. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Antero Resources

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Antero Resources by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,574,973 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $1,036,603,000 after purchasing an additional 214,060 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,661,491 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $689,135,000 after buying an additional 2,201,429 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,829,263 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $414,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274,760 shares in the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 6,355,724 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $222,768,000 after acquiring an additional 231,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,852,246 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $139,054,000 after acquiring an additional 61,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Cowen raised shares of Antero Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Antero Resources to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Antero Resources from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.44.

Antero Resources Trading Down 6.5 %

NYSE AR traded down $2.21 on Tuesday, hitting $31.94. 7,725,171 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,968,808. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Antero Resources has a 52-week low of $24.53 and a 52-week high of $42.63. The company has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.30 and a beta of 3.08.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.14. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.74% and a net margin of 2.31%. Research analysts predict that Antero Resources will post 2.74 EPS for the current 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.