Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Price Target Raised to $69.00

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the energy company’s stock.

MTDR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Matador Resources in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Capital upgraded Matador Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Matador Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on shares of Matador Resources in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.81.

Matador Resources Trading Up 6.9%

MTDR stock opened at $57.47 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.32. Matador Resources has a 52 week low of $37.14 and a 52 week high of $66.84.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.53. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Matador Resources will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Matador Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.3750 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Matador Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 25.73%.

Insider Activity at Matador Resources

In related news, CFO Christopher Calvert purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $56.64 per share, for a total transaction of $141,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 44,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,492,160. This trade represents a 6.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph Foran acquired 555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.49 per share, for a total transaction of $30,241.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $260,026.28. This trade represents a 13.16% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders purchased 23,144 shares of company stock worth $1,211,793. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matador Resources

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MTDR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Matador Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $573,936,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Matador Resources by 4.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,948,104 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $439,010,000 after purchasing an additional 277,839 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Matador Resources by 103.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,595,415 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $100,798,000 after purchasing an additional 810,808 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 2.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,186,046 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $74,934,000 after purchasing an additional 26,205 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matador Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $53,249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.98% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Matador Resources

Here are the key news stories impacting Matador Resources this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $65, indicating additional upside from recent trading levels and reinforcing its constructive view of Matador Resources. Truist lifts target for Matador Resources stock to USD 65.00
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley increased its target from $66 to $69 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating. The higher valuation target suggests improved expectations, despite the firm’s neutral stance. Morgan Stanley raises Matador Resources price target
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo issued a “buy” rating on MTDR, adding another bullish analyst endorsement and potentially supporting investor sentiment. Wells Fargo issues a buy rating on Matador Resources
• Neutral Sentiment: Scotiabank initiated coverage with a “sector perform” rating and a $59 target. The target implies limited upside and indicates the bank expects Matador to perform broadly in line with its industry peers. Scotiabank initiates coverage on Matador Resources
• Negative Sentiment: A separate Wells Fargo report presented a pessimistic stock-price forecast, creating conflicting signals with the firm’s reported buy rating. This inconsistency could increase uncertainty around the near-term analyst outlook. Wells Fargo issues pessimistic forecast for Matador Resources

About Matador Resources

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.