APA (NASDAQ:APA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

APA has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $41.80.

APA Stock Down 1.7 %

APA stock opened at $33.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a PE ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 3.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.21 and its 200 day moving average is $34.81. APA has a one year low of $29.47 and a one year high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that APA will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harris Associates L P grew its position in shares of APA by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 15,705,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,520,000 after buying an additional 2,367,570 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of APA by 191.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,144,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,952,000 after buying an additional 2,064,022 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of APA by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,719,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,714,656,000 after buying an additional 2,003,862 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of APA by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,299,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $728,347,000 after buying an additional 1,938,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of APA by 113.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,026,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,245,000 after buying an additional 1,076,668 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.