APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Raised to $48.00

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 0.18% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on APA. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of APA from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of APA from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of APA from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of APA from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.31.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.91. 272,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,582,878. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. APA has a 12-month low of $23.06 and a 12-month high of $52.96. The company has a market cap of $16.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.48.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. APA had a return on equity of 28.34% and a net margin of 23.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 30.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Research analysts expect that APA will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

APA declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 16th that permits the company to buy back 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of APA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of APA by 520.8% during the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of APA by 623.0% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in APA in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in APA in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in APA in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

About APA

APA Corporation is an independent energy company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include operating wells and related infrastructure, as well as evaluating and developing oil and natural gas resources. The company’s principal operating areas include the United States and Egypt. APA also has offshore exploration interests in Suriname, where it has worked with partners to assess resources in the region. APA traces its history to Apache Corporation, founded in 1954.