APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.20.

APA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of APA from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, January 16th.

APA Price Performance

APA opened at $30.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.91. APA has a twelve month low of $28.90 and a twelve month high of $46.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 3.29.

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

APA Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. APA’s payout ratio is currently 11.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of APA by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of APA by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,237,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,412,000 after acquiring an additional 38,505 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of APA by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 726,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,053,000 after purchasing an additional 90,610 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of APA by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,531,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,037,000 after purchasing an additional 24,182 shares in the last quarter. 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.