Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $40.84, but opened at $43.23. Matador Resources shares last traded at $41.29, with a volume of 942,318 shares traded.

The energy company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $980.87 million. Matador Resources had a net margin of 25.26% and a return on equity of 18.52%.

Matador Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Matador Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.51%.

Matador Resources declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy company to reacquire up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MTDR. UBS Group started coverage on Matador Resources in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Matador Resources in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $77.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Matador Resources from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Matador Resources from $65.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.73.

Insider Activity

In other Matador Resources news, CEO Joseph Wm Foran bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $53.94 per share, with a total value of $323,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,124,103.26. This trade represents a 17.98 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Van H. Singleton II bought 2,000 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $53.21 per share, with a total value of $106,420.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 289,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,384,873.35. The trade was a 0.70 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 21,350 shares of company stock worth $1,100,769 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matador Resources

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Matador Resources by 16.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 190,035 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $9,391,000 after purchasing an additional 26,289 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Matador Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matador Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $423,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in Matador Resources by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 22,753 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,529 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Matador Resources by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,008,421 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $54,122,000 after buying an additional 107,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.98% of the company’s stock.

Matador Resources Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 2.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.45.

Matador Resources Company Profile

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.