Joe Foran: And Leo, and that’s the way I look at it is it’s two variable deal. It’s not just what are you going to spend, but what are you going to get for that money that you’ve spent. And that’s why Brian’s point, I think, is a real good one, that we’ve increased production, but we didn’t increase CapEx, which meant we were able to achieve some cost savings as well as to find ways to improve our efficiency. And we’ll continue that throughout the year. And while it may vary a little bit, we’ll be matching it up or comparing it to what we’re getting accomplished in the way of increased production or increased services or fixed plant like the Marlan. So all that goes in. And I look upon as a two-variable deal as opposed to a one-variable.
Leo Mariani: Okay. Now, I appreciate that. And just wanted to follow up on the midstream here. Joe, you certainly mentioned that you thought there was some hidden value in the stock, and you could be somewhat patient and maybe wait for a deal at some point. But I know that Matador is a company that maybe expressed a little bit of frustration over the last year or so that all the Midstream value creation hasn’t shown up in the stock. I mean, I guess to the extent that we kind of continue on and later this year or into next year, and you still feel like there’s not a lot of value in the stock. Is Matador maybe poised at some point to maybe take some action and try to bring some of that value out on the midstream side?
Joe Foran: Well, we’re always looking for opportunities. And as I said, we’re a public company, and people that have proposals, we will look at them. And if they’re serious proposals, we’ll look at them very seriously. And while I think everybody runs a company would like — feels their stock is a little underpriced. I don’t know where many CEOs get out there and say, hey, guys, our stocks are overpriced, you might want to trim a little bit. So, yes, I think there are opportunities. And you look at us, how we’ve outperformed overall, how we’ve outperformed the S&P 500 or the Russell 2000, or even our peers, we’ve been one of the highest performing. But like anybody, you’re always looking to do a little better. But if you can think that the first Matador started with $270,000, after 20 years, we sold for $388 million.
So it was a nice run. But this Matador started at $6 million, and we’re up there over $8 billion, approaching $9 billion. And an original shareholder in the first Matador got in at $0.85, $0.90, something like that, and sold for $18 in a quarter. This matador, their basis of the original shareholder is $3.56. And now we’re in the $60s. That’s been a pretty good return. And during COVID, we went down to single digits, and anybody that bought then has had a 10-to-1 type gain. And now we’re paying dividend. And so, it really doesn’t matter so much what it was, but what is it now to someone and what could they might expect? And if it behaves like we’ve done the last 40 years, it’s still going to be a good — a very good return for them and continue to be a good run.
I mean, but going from $3.56 back in 2003 to $65 is a 20, is basically a 20-to-1. So even if you’re not getting 100% of the quote, whatever you call true value, you still have the benefit of over a 20-to-1 type gain. And we’re paying the dividend now that has grown steadily since we’ve done it. So we think that’s a good offering. And if you look at the quality of the properties, we’re in the — feel like we’re in the best basin, earning good return, and expanded to hedge our value some by having midstream. So you not only have a commodity-based business, but you have a fee-based business. So that also reduces the risk. And you look at the heavy ownership by employees, and again, I repeat I’ve never sold a share of stock. So — and neither have most of our other officers because we can see the opportunity is growing and sooner or later if we really have the value that we think we have, those in the market will see it and come on.
One of the major business magazines in the country, you would all know, if I mentioned the title, put us — had an article that said we were one of the eight stocks that people ought to buy. And the other companies that they mentioned in, they were far better known than us, General Motors being one of them. But if you look at that article, I was flattered to be in that group. So I think the outlook is good. We’ve been very consistent. You look at how many quarters that we’ve met or exceeded the guidance, I think is in the financial strength that we have, the oversubscriptions that we had both on the stock and the bond is another good sign. And then, when you figure 19 different banks, look, have their credit committees look at it and say this looks fine.
And then they have 19 different reservoir groups. So I think we’ve been thoroughly vetted as some that have some value. And I think both our drilling side and our Midstream side are very optimistic that they’ll be continuing bad value in the years ahead. And our team has depth and they’re really working well together. And as we said, we’ve been given, throwing praises on our field guys because we think they’re some of the best in the business and I think the staff is. And it’s really a total team effort. And they’re not sharp elbows, but just a bunch of guys that are trying to add value. And we’ve grown, as I said, from nothing, basically nothing to being the number eight largest company in New Mexico. So I think it’s a pretty good record. And past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
But that’s why I like to bet, and I like our chances.
Leo Mariani: Okay. Appreciate the color. Thank you.
Joe Foran: Thank you and come see us.
Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this ends the Q&A portion of this morning’s conference call. I’d like to turn the call over to management for any closing remarks.
Joe Foran: Well, after that last speech, I think I’ll just say ditto and tell you we really appreciate you all listening in. And the invitation to come see us and visit more at length, in more detail about any questions you have, is open, is sincere, and we mean it. And I think as you meet our people, you’ll feel more and more comfortable with either investing or adding to your investment. And also, I want to note that we have an Annual Meeting coming up, June 13, I believe. And we would invite you to attend the Annual Meeting. It’s a little different than some because we didn’t come up through private equity, but we came up through friends and family. So you have a lot of individual investors that are there that have been shareholders for 40 years.
