Brokerages Set APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) Target Price at $35.38

Shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirty-one analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty have issued a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.4615.

Several analysts recently commented on APA shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Benchmark boosted their price target on APA from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on APA from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Truist Financial started coverage on APA in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on APA from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $42.96 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 0.49. APA has a one year low of $13.58 and a one year high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. APA had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 15.55%.APA’s quarterly revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts expect that APA will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. APA’s payout ratio is currently 25.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other APA news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,349.82. The trade was a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APA. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in APA by 276.7% in the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its stake in APA by 115.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in APA in the third quarter worth $34,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in APA by 179.6% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in APA in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

About APA

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.