APA (NASDAQ:APA) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

APA (NASDAQ:APA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Raymond James dropped their target price on APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of APA in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of APA in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Monday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.05.

APA Price Performance

APA opened at $29.26 on Friday. APA has a 52-week low of $28.90 and a 52-week high of $46.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.07. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 3.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.12). APA had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 45.32%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that APA will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harris Associates L P lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,367,570 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of APA by 5.0% during the third 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 raised its holdings in shares of APA by 10.6% during the fourth 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. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of APA by 130.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,534,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,037,000 after buying an additional 867,257 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in APA by 1,527.3% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 921,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,880,000 after buying an additional 865,026 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.