Short Interest in Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) Decreases By 15.2%

Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,490,000 shares, a decline of 15.2% from the March 15th total of 14,730,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AR. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Antero Resources by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,467 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 12,062 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Antero Resources in the 4th quarter worth $556,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 1,423.0% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,544 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 7,983 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Antero Resources by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 178,183 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $6,246,000 after purchasing an additional 12,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital CS Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Antero Resources in the fourth quarter worth $615,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AR shares. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Antero Resources in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Antero Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen raised shares of Antero Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Antero Resources from $44.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Antero Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.44.

Antero Resources Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AR stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.29. 687,617 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,160,132. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.47. The company has a market cap of $10.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.17 and a beta of 3.08. Antero Resources has a 12 month low of $24.53 and a 12 month high of $42.63.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.14. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.74% and a net margin of 2.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that Antero Resources will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Antero Resources

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.