VELA Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR)

VELA Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) by 38.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,328 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,685 shares during the quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Antero Resources were worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AR. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 1,311.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 960 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Antero Resources during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 35.1% during the first 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 grew its position 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 valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased 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 valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AR. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Antero Resources from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Antero Resources from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Scotiabank raised Antero Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $40.00 to $44.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,268,682.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Antero Resources Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of AR stock opened at $25.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.70 and a beta of 3.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.08. Antero Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $20.10 and a twelve month high of $36.28.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and natural gas company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $978.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.20 million. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.45% and a net margin of 1.88%. Research analysts forecast that Antero Resources Co. will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Antero Resources Profile

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.