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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on APA. Mizuho decreased their price objective on APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Johnson Rice downgraded APA from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on APA from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $42.10.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $32.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 3.27. APA has a twelve month low of $29.47 and a twelve month high of $46.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during 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%. APA’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that APA will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. APA’s payout ratio is 10.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA in the first quarter valued at $860,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of APA by 14.2% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 253,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,727,000 after buying an additional 31,629 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 160.6% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of APA by 20.4% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 28,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 4,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA in the first quarter valued at $355,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

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.