APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA – Get Rating)’s share price was up 4.6% on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $38.00 to $46.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. APA traded as high as $41.75 and last traded at $41.65. Approximately 240,038 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 97% from the average daily volume of 9,435,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.82.
A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on APA. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of APA in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of APA from $53.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 19th. Truist Financial raised their target price on APA from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on APA from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.00.
Institutional Trading of APA
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. Stephens Inc. AR bought a new position in shares of APA in the 4th quarter worth $1,705,000. BOKF NA lifted its position in APA by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 73,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,972,000 after acquiring an additional 8,337 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in APA during the 1st quarter valued at about $263,000. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in APA during the 1st quarter valued at about $504,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in APA by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 73,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,032,000 after purchasing an additional 14,921 shares in the last quarter. 83.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
APA Trading Up 4.8 %
The stock has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 4.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 3.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.01.
APA (NASDAQ:APA – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 3rd. The company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.37. APA had a net margin of 32.57% and a return on equity of 622.55%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Equities analysts expect that APA Co. will post 9.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.
APA Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from APA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 20th. APA’s payout ratio is currently 5.62%.
APA announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 14th that authorizes the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
About APA
APA Corporation, through its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, and produces oil and gas properties. It has operations in the United States, Egypt, and the United Kingdom, as well as has exploration activities offshore Suriname. The company also operates gathering, processing, and transmission assets in West Texas, as well as holds ownership in four Permian-to-Gulf Coast pipelines.