APA (NASDAQ:APA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on APA. Susquehanna dropped their target price on APA from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho dropped their target price on APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Scotiabank reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of APA in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $41.80.

APA Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:APA opened at $33.16 on Friday. APA has a fifty-two week low of $29.47 and a fifty-two week high of $46.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a PE ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 3.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.81.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that APA will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the 1st quarter worth $327,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in APA in the first quarter valued at about $210,000. Roth Financial Partners LLC raised its position in APA by 36.8% in the first quarter. Roth Financial Partners LLC now owns 23,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 6,438 shares during the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC raised its position in APA by 4.0% in the first quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 110,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,813,000 after purchasing an additional 4,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group raised its position in APA by 97.5% in the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 16,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 8,190 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About APA

APA Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. It has oil and gas operations in the United States, Egypt, and North Sea. The company also has exploration and appraisal activities in Suriname, as well as holds interests in projects located in Uruguay and internationally.