Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MTDR. Citigroup reduced their target price on Matador Resources from $68.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Stephens increased their price target on Matador Resources from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Mizuho upgraded Matador Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Matador Resources from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Matador Resources in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.81.

Matador Resources Trading Down 0.1%

Matador Resources stock opened at $57.47 on Friday. Matador Resources has a 52 week low of $37.14 and a 52 week high of $66.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.25.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 32.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Matador Resources will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matador Resources

In other news, CEO Joseph Foran acquired 10,000 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.16 per share, for a total transaction of $521,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 25,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,336,182.72. The trade was a 64.03% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Christopher P. Calvert acquired 2,500 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $56.64 per share, with a total value of $141,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 44,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,492,160. This trade represents a 6.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have purchased a total of 23,144 shares of company stock valued at $1,211,793 in the last three months. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matador Resources

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTDR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Matador Resources during the second quarter worth $573,936,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Matador Resources by 4.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,948,104 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $439,010,000 after acquiring an additional 277,839 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 810,808 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Matador Resources by 2.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,186,046 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $74,934,000 after acquiring an additional 26,205 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Matador Resources during the second quarter worth about $42,184,000. 91.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines 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

Matador Resources Company Profile

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.