Approach Resources Inc. (NASDAQ:AREX) Rating Lowered to Sell at Zacks Investment Research

Approach Resources Inc. (NASDAQ:AREX) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday, July 18th.

According to Zacks, “Approach Resources Inc. is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, exploitation, production and acquisition of unconventional natural gas and oil properties onshore in the United States and Western Canada. The Company focuses its growth efforts primarily on finding and developing natural gas reserves in known tight gas sands and shale areas. The Company currently operates in Texas, New Mexico and Kentucky and has a non-operating interest in Western Canada. “

AREX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank set a $3.00 price target on Approach Resources and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 27th. ValuEngine upgraded Approach Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 1st. Finally, Seaport Global Securities downgraded Approach Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $3.00 to $0.50 in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.20.

Approach Resources (NASDAQ AREX) opened at 2.43 on Tuesday. Approach Resources has a 52-week low of $1.93 and a 52-week high of $4.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $2.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.74. The stock’s market capitalization is $209.81 million.

Approach Resources (NASDAQ:AREX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The energy company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.02. Approach Resources had a negative return on equity of 6.84% and a negative net margin of 169.54%. The business had revenue of $24.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Approach Resources will post ($0.41) EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other Approach Resources news, insider Wilks Brothers, Llc bought 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $2.97 per share, for a total transaction of $445,500.00. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have bought 2,651,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,268,650 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu KCG Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Approach Resources by 182.8% in the second quarter. Virtu KCG Holdings LLC now owns 32,033 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 20,705 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new position in shares of Approach Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $124,000. Edge Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Approach Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $100,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Approach Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers bought a new position in shares of Approach Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Institutional investors own 24.49% of the company’s stock.

About Approach Resources

Approach Resources Inc is an independent energy company. The Company is focused on the exploration, development, production and acquisition of unconventional oil and gas reserves in the Midland Basin of the greater Permian Basin in West Texas. The Company’s business segment is the exploration and production of oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and natural gas.

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