Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM)

Antero Midstream Co. (NYSE:AM) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 9,113 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 141% compared to the typical volume of 3,775 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Antero Midstream

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Guild Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Antero Midstream in the fourth quarter valued at $1,883,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Antero Midstream by 12.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,906,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,686,000 after acquiring an additional 203,967 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Antero Midstream during the 4th quarter worth about $226,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Antero Midstream by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 1,751 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC acquired a new stake in Antero Midstream in the 4th quarter valued at $6,977,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.97% of the company’s stock.

Antero Midstream Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AM opened at $18.03 on Wednesday. Antero Midstream has a 1 year low of $13.12 and a 1 year high of $18.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Antero Midstream (NYSE:AM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.01). Antero Midstream had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 36.24%. Analysts predict that Antero Midstream will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Antero Midstream Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were issued a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. Antero Midstream’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AM. StockNews.com cut shares of Antero Midstream from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Antero Midstream from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Antero Midstream Company Profile

Antero Midstream Corporation owns, operates, and develops midstream energy assets in the Appalachian Basin. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Water Handling. The Gathering and Processing segment includes a network of gathering pipelines and compressor stations that collects and processes production from Antero Resources' wells in West Virginia and Ohio.