Short Interest in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Rises By 18.7%

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,030,000 shares, a growth of 18.7% from the October 31st total of 16,030,000 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 6,530,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on APA shares. Citigroup cut their target price on APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho cut their price objective on APA from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of APA from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.57.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $22.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 3.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. APA has a 12-month low of $21.15 and a 12-month high of $37.82.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 22nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Comerica Bank increased its position in APA by 0.9% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 176,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,069,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in APA by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 41,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 7,032 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in APA by 257.7% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in APA by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in APA during the 2nd quarter worth $478,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.