UBS Group Reiterates Neutral Rating for APA (NASDAQ:APA)

APA (NASDAQ:APA)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by investment analysts at UBS Group in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $19.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $18.00. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 1.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on APA. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target (up from $14.00) on shares of APA in a report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of APA from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of APA from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of APA from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of APA from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.72.

APA Stock Performance

APA stock opened at $18.65 on Monday. APA has a 12-month low of $13.58 and a 12-month high of $33.41. The company has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.68.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. APA had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of APA

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 2.9% in the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 36,439,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,961 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of APA by 1.9% in the first quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 25,708,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,393,000 after acquiring an additional 488,530 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 8.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,932,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,893 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of APA by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,230,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,498,000 after acquiring an additional 850,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,507,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,016,000 after acquiring an additional 200,770 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.