Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Matador Resources Company (NYSE:MTDR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Matador Resources Company (NYSE:MTDR) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 37,417 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,912,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Matador Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,819,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in Matador Resources by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,858 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Matador Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $403,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Matador Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $471,000. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in Matador Resources by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 61,077 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. 91.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Matador Resources

In other Matador Resources news, CEO Joseph Wm Foran acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.63 per share, for a total transaction of $99,075.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 60,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,760.28. This represents a 4.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MTDR. Royal Bank Of Canada cut 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on Matador Resources from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Stephens cut their target price on Matador Resources from $90.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Matador Resources from $65.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Matador Resources from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Matador Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Matador Resources Price Performance

NYSE:MTDR opened at $47.83 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.49. Matador Resources Company has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $64.04.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The energy company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $895.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $892.86 million. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 22.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Matador Resources Company will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy company to buy up to 7.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Matador Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Matador Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.30%.

Matador Resources 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.