Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Increases Position in APA Corporation $APA

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,873,041 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 130,524 shares during the quarter. APA comprises about 0.9% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned approximately 0.52% of APA worth $45,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of APA by 157.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,869,891 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 7,627.3% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,013,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,400 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 160.5% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 336,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,165,000 after purchasing an additional 892,438 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in APA by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,092,000 after buying an additional 806,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in APA by 528.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 681,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,466,000 after buying an additional 573,193 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

APA Stock Down 1.6%

APA stock opened at $25.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.11, a PEG ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.74. APA Corporation has a one year low of $13.58 and a one year high of $27.72.

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

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on APA from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of APA from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Johnson Rice upgraded APA from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.35.

About APA

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.