Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 7,461 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,246 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,461 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in APA were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in APA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $256,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $44,412,000 after acquiring an additional 38,505 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased 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 acquiring an additional 90,610 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,531,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,037,000 after acquiring an additional 24,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA in the 4th quarter valued at $11,050,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.10.

APA Price Performance

APA opened at $32.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 3.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.53. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $29.47 and a 1 year high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. APA had a return on equity of 62.64% and a net margin of 34.95%. APA’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.78%.

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.