KLCM Advisors Inc. Sells 389,981 Shares of APA Corporation $APA

KLCM Advisors Inc. decreased its position in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 54.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 323,937 shares of the company’s stock after selling 389,981 shares during the quarter. APA accounts for 1.2% of KLCM Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. KLCM Advisors Inc. owned about 0.09% of APA worth $13,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its stake in APA by 115.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of APA during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of APA in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other APA news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

APA Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of APA stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.44. 3,236,575 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,534,070. APA Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.86 and a 1 year high of $45.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 0.35.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The firm’s revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on APA. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Capital One Financial raised their target price on APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen cut APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut APA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.85.

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.