APA (NASDAQ:APA) Given Underweight Rating at Barclays

Barclays restated their underweight rating on shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) in a research report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Mizuho upped their price target on APA from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Stephens lifted their price objective on APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on APA from $21.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.35.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $26.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.74. APA has a one year low of $13.58 and a one year high of $27.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that APA will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Institutional Trading of APA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 869.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 194,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,872,000 after buying an additional 174,369 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 284,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,000 after acquiring an additional 79,451 shares during the period. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC grew its position in APA by 33.3% in the second quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,316,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of APA by 98.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 51,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 25,787 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of APA by 22.0% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 914,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,729,000 after purchasing an additional 165,006 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.