APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.4231.

Several brokerages have recently commented on APA. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of APA from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Capital One Financial boosted their price target on shares of APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Evercore upped their price objective on shares of APA from $25.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of APA by 520.8% during the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of APA in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in APA during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in APA by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC grew its holdings in APA by 115.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $35.22 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $12.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.35. APA has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that APA will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

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.