Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Makes New Investment in APA Corporation $APA

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 10,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 9.2% in the third quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 19,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of APA by 8.4% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 15,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 18.3% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,388 shares during the period. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of APA by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 117,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on APA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of APA from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on APA in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised APA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on APA from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.76.

APA Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $51.51 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. APA Corporation has a 1 year low of $21.63 and a 1 year high of $52.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.42.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. APA’s payout ratio is presently 21.14%.

APA Profile

APA Corporation is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s activities include identifying hydrocarbon resources, drilling and completing wells, operating producing properties, and managing related infrastructure.

APA’s principal producing areas include the Permian Basin in the United States and Egypt’s Western Desert, where it operates through joint ventures with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.