Zacks Research Issues Positive Outlook for APA Earnings

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2027 earnings estimates for APA in a research report issued on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $0.55 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.52. Zacks Research currently has a “Strong Sell” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for APA’s current full-year earnings is $4.03 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for APA’s Q2 2027 earnings at $0.54 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $0.48 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.12 EPS.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

APA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stephens raised their price objective on APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of APA in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of APA from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of APA from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.30.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $25.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a PE ratio of 6.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.74. APA has a 12 month low of $13.58 and a 12 month high of $27.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.11.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. APA’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 157.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,869,891 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of APA by 13.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,030,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,657,000 after buying an additional 1,674,739 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of APA by 29.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,349,000 after buying an additional 1,018,326 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of APA by 7,627.3% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,013,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,608,000 after buying an additional 1,000,400 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in APA by 160.5% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 336,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,165,000 after acquiring an additional 892,438 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key APA News

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several near-term EPS forecasts for APA (Q1–Q4 2027 and FY2027 estimates were nudged higher), which can be read as modestly constructive on forward earnings expectations. (Zacks research notes)
• Positive Sentiment: The Goldman Sachs price target was increased to $23 from $21 (rating: sell), a small upward reframe of fair value that could limit downside. Goldman Sachs raises PT to $23
• Positive Sentiment: AmericanBankingNews reported an analyst-implied price-target increase to $22, another incremental supportive datapoint. Price Target Raised to $22
• Neutral Sentiment: Local community event — APA’s “Paws & Pins” fundraiser scheduled for Feb. 20 — is PR/CSR positive but unlikely to move the stock materially. Paws & Pins fundraiser
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary piece outlines how fresh analyst targets are reframing APA’s fair value; useful context for investors but not a direct market mover. Why APA story is shifting
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan cut its price target to $25 (maintained neutral), and that move was reported alongside an intraday share drop — a clear near-term headwind for the stock. JPMorgan lowers PT to $25
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays downgraded APA to an Underweight/“downgrade,” which increases sell-side pressure and may keep the stock capped until clearer operational/commodity signals emerge. Barclays downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks moved the stock from Hold to Strong Sell even while nudging some short-term EPS estimates; the retained negative rating undercuts the constructive EPS revisions. Zacks rating change

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.