APA (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.92, but opened at $23.97. APA shares last traded at $23.8070, with a volume of 2,674,074 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on APA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on APA from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on APA from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Roth Capital raised their price target on APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of APA from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.05.

APA Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.83. The stock has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 1.12.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in APA by 2.9% in the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 36,439,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,961 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its position in shares of APA by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 25,708,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,393,000 after buying an additional 488,530 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of APA by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,208,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,882,000 after acquiring an additional 275,981 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of APA by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,030,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in APA by 29.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,326 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.