APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.18.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on APA. Mizuho reduced their price objective on APA from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Bernstein Bank cut their price target on APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of APA by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 456,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,176,000 after purchasing an additional 13,557 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new position in shares of APA in the 3rd quarter worth $280,000. Malaga Cove Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA in the 3rd quarter worth $460,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 53,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after buying an additional 3,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its stake in shares of APA by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 223,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,455,000 after buying an additional 77,733 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

NASDAQ:APA opened at $23.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.44. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 3.23. APA has a 52-week low of $22.72 and a 52-week high of $40.93.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.22. APA had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 32.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that APA will post 3.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.19%.

About APA

APA Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. It has oil and gas operations in the United States, Egypt, and North Sea. The company also has exploration and appraisal activities in Suriname, as well as holds interests in projects located in Uruguay and internationally.