Inspire Investing LLC Raises Stock Holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 29.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,791 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,859 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of APA by 4.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,648,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,535,001,000 after acquiring an additional 2,004,555 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of APA by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,299,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $728,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,335 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in shares of APA by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 15,705,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,367,570 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of APA by 131.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,813,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,704,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736,041 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of APA by 15.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,358,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,865,000 after acquiring an additional 455,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $25.07 on Friday. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $22.72 and a 1 year high of $43.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 3.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.22. APA had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 32.66%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on APA from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Truist Financial increased their price target on APA from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on APA in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.38.

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.