Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 6,435 Shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 670,464 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 6,435 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Antero Resources were worth $23,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AR. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 537.2% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 954,685 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,352,000 after purchasing an additional 804,851 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Antero Resources by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,460,062 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $500,231,000 after buying an additional 675,053 shares during the period. Kailix Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Antero Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $17,327,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Antero Resources by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 4,378,849 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $125,452,000 after buying an additional 411,549 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Antero Resources by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 745,770 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $26,139,000 after buying an additional 224,700 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 200,000 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $7,952,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,800,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,568,000. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Antero Resources Trading Down 3.4 %

Antero Resources stock opened at $38.18 on Monday. Antero Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $24.43 and a 52 week high of $41.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 119.30 and a beta of 3.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.68.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.14. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.74% and a net margin of 2.31%. Analysts expect that Antero Resources Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AR. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Antero Resources from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price target on Antero Resources from $44.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Antero Resources from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Antero Resources from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Antero Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Antero Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.44.

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.