Traders Buy High Volume of Antero Midstream Put Options (NYSE:AM)

Antero Midstream Co. (NYSE:AM) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 9,113 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 141% compared to the typical volume of 3,775 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Antero Midstream from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Antero Midstream from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Institutional Trading of Antero Midstream

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Antero Midstream in the 4th quarter valued at $62,578,000. SIR Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Antero Midstream in the 4th quarter valued at $35,058,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Antero Midstream by 7,769.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,028,014 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,513,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014,951 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Antero Midstream by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,105,379 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $61,950,000 after acquiring an additional 753,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Antero Midstream by 121.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,092,755 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $16,446,000 after buying an additional 600,208 shares in the last quarter. 53.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Antero Midstream Stock Performance

Antero Midstream stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $17.87. 1,168,856 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,687,053. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Antero Midstream has a fifty-two week low of $13.12 and a fifty-two week high of $18.10. The company has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52 and a beta of 2.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $16.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.64.

Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.01). Antero Midstream had a net margin of 36.24% and a return on equity of 18.82%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Antero Midstream will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Antero Midstream Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a $0.225 dividend. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. Antero Midstream’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.43%.

Antero Midstream Company Profile

Antero Midstream Corporation owns, operates, and develops midstream energy assets in the Appalachian Basin. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Water Handling. The Gathering and Processing segment includes a network of gathering pipelines and compressor stations that collects and processes production from Antero Resources' wells in West Virginia and Ohio.