Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Matador Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Matador Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of Matador Resources in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Matador Resources from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Matador Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.20.

Matador Resources Price Performance

Shares of MTDR stock opened at $57.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Matador Resources has a 12-month low of $37.14 and a 12-month high of $66.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.01 and a 200-day moving average of $55.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.98.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 32.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Matador Resources will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued 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 was Monday, August 10th. Matador Resources’s payout ratio is presently 25.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Joseph Foran purchased 555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.49 per share, with a total value of $30,241.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $260,026.28. The trade was a 13.16% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Elsener purchased 850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $50.94 per share, with a total value of $43,299.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president owned 114,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,851,936.26. The trade was a 0.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 23,144 shares of company stock valued at $1,211,793. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Matador Resources by 4.1% during the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,636 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Matador Resources by 11.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,460 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in Matador Resources by 36.4% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 142,738 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,362,000 after purchasing an additional 38,119 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Matador Resources by 7.3% during the second quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,488 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Matador Resources by 80.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,285 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 8,581 shares in the last quarter. 91.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Matador Resources

Matador Resources Company (NYSE: MTDR) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company focuses primarily on unconventional, or shale, resource plays and operates across both upstream exploration and production and related midstream activities.

Matador’s principal exploration and production operations are located in the Delaware Basin in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. Its midstream operations, conducted primarily through San Mateo Midstream, provide natural gas gathering and processing, crude oil and produced-water gathering, and water sourcing and disposal services that support the company’s operations and other producers in the region.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Matador has historically expanded through development and acquisitions in U.S.