APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Short Interest Down 11.8% in August

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) was the target of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,430,000 shares, a decline of 11.8% from the August 15th total of 15,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 3.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of APA by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,648,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,535,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004,555 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp increased its holdings in APA by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 154,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,533,000 after buying an additional 27,513 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of APA by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,841,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,093,000 after buying an additional 345,192 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,299,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $728,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,335 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of APA by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 48,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,000 after acquiring an additional 7,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $25.25 on Wednesday. APA has a 12-month low of $22.72 and a 12-month high of $43.58. The company has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a PE ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 3.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.22. APA had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 32.66%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that APA will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on APA shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of APA from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of APA in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, APA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.67.

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.