APA (NASDAQ:APA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on APA. Johnson Rice cut APA from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com raised APA from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of APA in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on APA from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $42.25.

APA Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $32.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a PE ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 3.27. APA has a 1-year low of $29.47 and a 1-year high of $46.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.51 and a 200 day moving average of $34.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released 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). 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that APA will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harris Associates L P increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,367,570 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 5.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,719,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,714,656,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003,862 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 10.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,938,335 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 130.0% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,534,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,037,000 after purchasing an additional 867,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of APA by 1,527.3% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 921,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,880,000 after acquiring an additional 865,026 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is 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.