APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty-four analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, sixteen have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.9048.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on APA. Capital One Financial raised their target price on APA from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of APA from $21.00 to $16.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of APA from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in APA in the 3rd quarter worth about $887,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in APA by 54.6% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 4,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 14.6% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 3,530 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA in the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of APA in the third quarter worth approximately $234,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Trading Up 1.7%

APA stock opened at $25.10 on Friday. APA has a 12-month low of $13.58 and a 12-month high of $25.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.21.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 10.53%.The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

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.