Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases 1,300 Shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,600 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Antero Resources were worth $2,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AR. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Antero Resources by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,384 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Antero Resources by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Antero Resources by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,752 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Antero Resources by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 18,499 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Antero Resources by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,012 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Antero Resources

In other news, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.24, for a total transaction of $1,262,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 248,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,268,682.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Antero Resources in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Antero Resources to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $29.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.69.

Antero Resources Stock Up 2.6 %

Antero Resources stock opened at $27.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.90 and a beta of 3.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Antero Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $20.10 and a twelve month high of $36.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.80.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and natural gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $978.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.20 million. Antero Resources had a net margin of 1.88% and a return on equity of 0.45%. As a group, analysts expect that Antero Resources Co. will post 0.42 EPS for the current 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.