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

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of APA from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.10.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APA opened at $32.47 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 3.27. APA has a twelve month low of $29.47 and a twelve month high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). APA had a return on equity of 62.64% and a net margin of 34.95%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that APA will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of APA by 1.2% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 21,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of APA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 49,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,788,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of APA by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of APA by 5.8% in the third quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in APA by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 25,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.