Morgan Stanley Reaffirms “Underweight” Rating for APA (NASDAQ:APA)

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their underweight rating on shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $28.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James dropped their price objective on APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on APA from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on APA from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $41.80.

APA Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $32.26 on Monday. APA has a twelve month low of $29.47 and a twelve month high of $46.15. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a PE ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 3.27.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that APA will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. APA’s payout ratio is currently 10.78%.

Institutional Trading of APA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC acquired a new position in APA in the 1st quarter valued at about $295,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in APA by 3,173.6% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 17,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 16,566 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in APA in the 1st quarter valued at about $145,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new position in APA in the 1st quarter valued at about $328,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in APA by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,362,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,324,000 after acquiring an additional 29,907 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.