Investors Buy High Volume of Antero Resources Put Options (NYSE:AR)

Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 21,149 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 118% compared to the average volume of 9,713 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AR shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Antero Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $39.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Antero Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on Antero Resources in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Antero Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.47.

Antero Resources Trading Down 1.1%

AR stock opened at $33.63 on Tuesday. Antero Resources has a 52-week low of $29.10 and a 52-week high of $44.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.49.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 11.73%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.07) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Antero Resources will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brendan E. Krueger acquired 5,000 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.35 per share, for a total transaction of $166,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 295,917 shares in the company, valued at $9,868,831.95. This trade represents a 1.72% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Antero Resources by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Antero Resources by 261.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,467 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,507 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 59.2% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 928 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 77.6% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 13,601 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 5,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenfield Seitz Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Antero Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

Antero Resources Company Profile

Antero Resources Corporation is an independent exploration and production company focused on the development of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and oil properties in the Appalachian Basin of the United States. The company’s operations target the Marcellus and Utica shales, where it applies advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize recovery from its large acreage position. Antero’s portfolio encompasses significant reserves of ethane, propane and other NGLs, alongside dry gas volumes that are positioned to serve both domestic and export markets.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Antero Resources holds approximately 1.8 million net acres of leasehold interests across parts of West Virginia and Ohio.