Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Antero Midstream Corporation (NYSE:AM) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $23.13 and last traded at $23.1220, with a volume of 1782183 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on AM. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Antero Midstream from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Antero Midstream from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Antero Midstream from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Antero Midstream from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Antero Midstream from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.33.

Antero Midstream Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.79 and its 200 day moving average is $18.72. The company has a quick ratio of 3.41, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. Antero Midstream had a net margin of 34.77% and a return on equity of 20.12%. The firm had revenue of $297.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Antero Midstream Corporation will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Antero Midstream Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th were issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. Antero Midstream’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.65%.

Insider Activity at Antero Midstream

In other Antero Midstream news, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.81, for a total transaction of $570,250.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 649,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,822,713.54. This represents a 3.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Brooks J. Klimley sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.59, for a total transaction of $87,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 72,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,277,420.98. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,000 shares of company stock valued at $976,840. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Antero Midstream

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Antero Midstream by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,848,461 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $152,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430,138 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Antero Midstream by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 504,755 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,812,000 after purchasing an additional 146,300 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Antero Midstream by 21.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,081,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $59,913,000 after purchasing an additional 535,245 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Antero Midstream during the third quarter worth $2,676,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Antero Midstream by 54.3% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 614,068 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,637,000 after purchasing an additional 216,022 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.97% of the company’s stock.

Antero Midstream Company Profile

Antero Midstream Corporation is a publicly traded midstream service provider that was established in 2014 as a spin-off from Antero Resources. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the company owns, operates and develops midstream infrastructure to support the gathering, compression, processing, transportation and storage of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil. Antero Midstream plays a critical role in connecting upstream production in the Appalachian Basin to end-market pipelines and processing facilities.

The company’s core operations include a network of gathering pipelines and compression stations that serve the Marcellus and Utica shale formations across West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.