SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Grows Position in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 19.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,101 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,171 shares during the quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in APA were worth $149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APA. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at $1,442,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of APA in the 4th quarter worth about $996,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in APA in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,282,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in APA by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 115,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,658,000 after acquiring an additional 13,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 58,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 8,118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on APA. Mizuho lowered their price objective on APA from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Argus upgraded APA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of APA from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up previously from $18.00) on shares of APA in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.53.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $18.84 on Friday. APA Corporation has a 12 month low of $13.58 and a 12 month high of $33.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.61 and a 200 day moving average of $19.65. The firm has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 6.78, a PEG ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 1.25.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. APA had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. APA’s payout ratio is 35.97%.

APA 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.