Retirement Systems of Alabama Raises Stock Holdings in Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 353,830 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Antero Resources were worth $8,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in Antero Resources by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Antero Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Antero Resources in the third quarter worth about $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Antero Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, Payden & Rygel Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Antero Resources during the third quarter valued at about $99,000. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Antero Resources Price Performance

NYSE:AR opened at $33.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.69. Antero Resources Co. has a 1-year low of $19.91 and a 1-year high of $34.69. The firm has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 165.70 and a beta of 3.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. Antero Resources had a net margin of 1.50% and a return on equity of 0.18%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Antero Resources Co. will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on AR shares. Benchmark downgraded shares of Antero Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Mizuho upped their target price on Antero Resources from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Antero Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Antero Resources from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Antero Resources

In other Antero Resources news, Director Robert J. Clark sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.67, for a total transaction of $336,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,963 shares in the company, valued at $2,355,654.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 232,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total value of $6,004,774.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,550,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert J. Clark sold 10,000 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.67, for a total transaction of $336,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 69,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,355,654.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 477,280 shares of company stock valued at $12,490,305. Company insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Antero Resources Company 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.