Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Cuts Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 19.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,723 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,879 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in APA were worth $1,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in APA. American National Bank increased its holdings in shares of APA by 208.5% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in APA by 75.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in APA during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in APA by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in APA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on APA shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of APA from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of APA from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of APA from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Friday, June 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.38.

APA Price Performance

APA opened at $25.11 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $22.72 and a 1 year high of $43.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 3.24.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.22. APA had a net margin of 32.66% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that APA Co. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.19%.

APA 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.