Morgan Stanley Cuts Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Price Target to $61.00

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $62.00 to $61.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the energy company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. William Blair began coverage on shares of Matador Resources in a research report on Monday, August 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Matador Resources in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.36.

Matador Resources Price Performance

MTDR stock opened at $42.95 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.29 and a beta of 1.41. Matador Resources has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $64.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $895.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $892.86 million. Matador Resources had a net margin of 22.57% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Matador Resources will post 8.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matador Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This is a boost from Matador Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Matador Resources’s payout ratio is 18.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Joseph Wm Foran bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $49.17 per share, with a total value of $245,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $324,817.02. This represents a 311.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP William Thomas Elsener bought 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $48.46 per share, with a total value of $29,076.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 112,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,430,863.74. The trade was a 0.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 11,380 shares of company stock valued at $549,188 over the last quarter. Insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matador Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MTDR. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Matador Resources by 143.1% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 1,505,000 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Matador Resources by 45.7% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,334,775 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $159,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,396 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Matador Resources by 7.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,511,643 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $690,310,000 after buying an additional 956,090 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matador Resources during the second quarter valued at about $37,194,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matador Resources during the first quarter valued at about $35,715,000. Institutional investors own 91.98% of the company’s stock.

Matador Resources Company 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.