APA (NASDAQ:APA) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho cut their price target on APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an underweight rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of APA from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of APA from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $42.05.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $29.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. APA has a 12 month low of $28.90 and a 12 month high of $46.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $32.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.01. The firm has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 3.29.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. APA had a return on equity of 45.32% and a net margin of 34.04%. APA’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that APA will post 5.03 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 21,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in APA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 49,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,788,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in APA by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 25,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 961 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Company Profile

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.