Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup began coverage on shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $53.00 price target on the energy company’s stock.

MTDR has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Matador Resources from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down previously from $63.00) on shares of Matador Resources in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Matador Resources from $71.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Matador Resources from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Matador Resources from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Matador Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.87.

Matador Resources Trading Up 2.8%

MTDR opened at $45.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73. Matador Resources has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $64.04. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.12.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The energy company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $939.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.22 million. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 20.46%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Matador Resources will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matador Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.375 dividend. This is a boost from Matador Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Matador Resources’s payout ratio is presently 23.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Van H. Singleton II acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.46 per share, with a total value of $39,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 292,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,538,814.28. The trade was a 0.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph Wm Foran purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.14 per share, with a total value of $38,140.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 23,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $910,287.38. The trade was a 4.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 41,126 shares of company stock worth $1,645,158 over the last quarter. 5.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Matador Resources in the third quarter valued at $243,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Matador Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,615,000. Tweedy Browne Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 105.3% in the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 15,489 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 7,944 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 0.5% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 60,150 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,703,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Matador Resources during the third quarter worth about $1,973,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.98% of the company’s stock.

About Matador Resources

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.