Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Shares Climb 4.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Matador Resources Company (NYSE:MTDR)’s stock price rose 4.5% during trading on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $69.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Matador Resources traded as high as $56.13 and last traded at $56.1760. 427,028 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 1,849,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.77.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Matador Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Matador Resources from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Matador Resources in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on Matador Resources from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on Matador Resources in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matador Resources

In other Matador Resources news, EVP William Elsener bought 850 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $50.94 per share, with a total value of $43,299.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 114,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,851,936.26. This represents a 0.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Christopher P. Calvert purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.64 per share, with a total value of $141,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 44,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,492,160. This represents a 6.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 23,144 shares of company stock valued at $1,211,793. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matador Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MTDR. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Matador Resources in the second quarter worth $573,936,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Matador Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $53,249,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Matador Resources during the second quarter valued at $56,161,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Matador Resources during the second quarter valued at $42,184,000. Finally, Value Holdings Management CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matador Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,532,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.98% of the company’s stock.

Matador Resources Trading Up 4.8%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.98.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.53. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 19.85%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Matador Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Matador Resources Company will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matador Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.3750 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Matador Resources’s payout ratio is presently 25.73%.

Matador Resources Company Profile

Matador Resources Company is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. Its operations are focused primarily on unconventional, or shale, formations, with oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids among its principal products.

The company’s main exploration and production activities are concentrated in the Delaware Basin, part of the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. Matador has also historically held interests in other U.S.