APA Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:APA)

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 21,526 call options on the company. This is an increase of 85% compared to the typical volume of 11,614 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on APA from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on APA from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in APA by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. one8zero8 LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 1.2% during the third quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 42,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of APA by 0.5% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 106,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 19.6% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 2.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $26.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.44. APA has a fifty-two week low of $13.58 and a fifty-two week high of $27.19. The company has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.42, a PEG ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 0.75.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. APA had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 15.49%.APA’s revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that APA will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.