APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Receives $30.65 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.80.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on APA shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday.

APA Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $18.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 3.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.79. APA has a 52-week low of $17.66 and a 52-week high of $36.04.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other APA news, Director Juliet S. Ellis acquired 4,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.78 per share, for a total transaction of $100,026.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $283,292.08. This represents a 54.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of APA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 113,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in APA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 77,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,780,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in APA by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 31,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its holdings in shares of APA by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 46,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of APA by 84.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Company Profile

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.