Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Receives Outperform Rating from Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Raymond James Financial currently has a $55.00 price objective on the energy company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $63.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on MTDR. William Blair began coverage on shares of Matador Resources in a research note on Monday, August 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Matador Resources from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Matador Resources from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Matador Resources from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Matador Resources from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.79.

Matador Resources Stock Up 1.0%

MTDR opened at $43.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.85. Matador Resources has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $64.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.74 and its 200 day moving average is $46.19. The stock has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.41.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The energy company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.24. Matador Resources had a net margin of 22.57% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The company had revenue of $895.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $892.86 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. Matador Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Matador Resources will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matador Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This is an increase from Matador Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Matador Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.30%.

Insider Transactions at Matador Resources

In other Matador Resources news, EVP William Thomas Elsener bought 600 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $48.46 per share, for a total transaction of $29,076.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 112,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,430,863.74. This represents a 0.54% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Christopher P. Calvert bought 1,000 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $47.77 per share, for a total transaction of $47,770.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 37,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,791,375. The trade was a 2.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 11,380 shares of company stock worth $549,188 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Matador Resources

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTDR. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Matador Resources by 143.1% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,556,472 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $121,995,000 after buying an additional 1,505,000 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Matador Resources by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,334,775 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $159,135,000 after buying an additional 1,045,396 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Matador Resources by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,511,643 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $690,310,000 after buying an additional 956,090 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Matador Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,194,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Matador Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,715,000. 91.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Matador Resources

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.