Wells Fargo & Company Downgrades Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) to Underweight

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) was downgraded by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, FinViz reports. They presently have a $25.00 target price on the oil and natural gas company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $34.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 12.76% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AR. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Antero Resources from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $37.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Antero Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Antero Resources in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Antero Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.63.

Antero Resources Price Performance

Shares of Antero Resources stock opened at $28.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a PE ratio of 143.28 and a beta of 3.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.30 and a 200 day moving average of $30.29. Antero Resources has a 52 week low of $20.10 and a 52 week high of $36.28. 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 (NYSE:AR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and natural gas company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.04). Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.45% and a net margin of 1.88%. The company had revenue of $978.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $980.20 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Antero Resources will post 0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Antero Resources news, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.24, for a total value of $1,262,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 248,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,268,682.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Antero Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AR. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 942.9% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 35,937 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 32,491 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Antero Resources by 544.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 156,110 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $3,557,000 after buying an additional 131,882 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Antero Resources by 118.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,055 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 4,910 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Antero Resources by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 408,778 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $9,271,000 after buying an additional 36,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Antero Resources by 22,993.5% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,159 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 7,128 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.