Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $38.78 and last traded at $38.55, with a volume of 943230 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MTDR. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Matador Resources from $84.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Matador Resources in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Matador Resources from $76.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Matador Resources from $90.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Matador Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.79.

Matador Resources Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 3.17.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The energy company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by ($0.05). Matador Resources had a net margin of 25.26% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The business had revenue of $970.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.10 million. On average, research analysts expect that Matador Resources will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Matador Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Matador Resources’s payout ratio is presently 17.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy E. Parker bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $44.67 per share, for a total transaction of $89,340.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 83,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,742,899.30. This trade represents a 2.45 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Robert T. Macalik purchased 1,200 shares of Matador Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $47.98 per share, with a total value of $57,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,487,380. This represents a 4.03 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 21,350 shares of company stock worth $1,100,769 in the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matador Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Matador Resources by 262.0% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,517,308 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $85,364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,108 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Matador Resources by 145.2% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,283,743 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $72,223,000 after buying an additional 760,122 shares in the last quarter. Webs Creek Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Matador Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,894,000. Yaupon Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Matador Resources by 565.4% during the 3rd quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 744,037 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $36,770,000 after buying an additional 632,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Matador Resources by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,698,606 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $151,824,000 after buying an additional 555,245 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.98% of the company’s stock.

About Matador Resources

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.