Homestead Advisers Corp Sells 6,000 Shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR)

Homestead Advisers Corp lowered its stake in shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,700 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Matador Resources were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,555,553 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $706,375,000 after buying an additional 187,633 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Matador Resources by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,008,730 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $99,297,000 after acquiring an additional 36,921 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Matador Resources by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,491,570 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $83,916,000 after acquiring an additional 56,644 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Matador Resources by 4.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,287,587 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $63,633,000 after acquiring an additional 52,498 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Matador Resources by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,286,444 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $72,375,000 after purchasing an additional 302,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTDR. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Matador Resources in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Matador Resources from $76.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Matador Resources in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Matador Resources from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul W. Harvey bought 600 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $55.20 per share, for a total transaction of $33,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,541,018.40. This trade represents a 2.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Van H. Singleton II purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $53.21 per share, with a total value of $106,420.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 289,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,384,873.35. This represents a 0.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 21,350 shares of company stock worth $1,100,769 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Matador Resources Price Performance

Shares of MTDR stock opened at $52.25 on Thursday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.86. Matador Resources has a one year low of $43.89 and a one year high of $71.08. The firm has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 3.17.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The energy company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.05). Matador Resources had a return on equity of 18.52% and a net margin of 25.26%. The firm had revenue of $970.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.10 million. On average, analysts expect that Matador Resources will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matador Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.3125 dividend. This is an increase from Matador Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Matador Resources’s payout ratio is presently 17.51%.

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.