Sagefield Capital LP Raises Holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Sagefield Capital LP lifted its stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 0.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 366,840 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,226 shares during the quarter. APA makes up approximately 1.1% of Sagefield Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Sagefield Capital LP’s holdings in APA were worth $10,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in APA by 131.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,813,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736,041 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P raised its holdings in APA by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 15,705,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,367,570 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in APA by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,648,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,535,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004,555 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in APA by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,299,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $728,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938,335 shares during the period. Finally, Webs Creek Capital Management LP acquired a new position in APA in the 1st quarter worth about $28,593,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on APA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on APA from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on APA from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on APA from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on APA from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on APA from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, APA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.38.

APA Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $25.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 3.24. APA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.72 and a fifty-two week high of $43.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $28.17 and a 200 day moving average of $30.05.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.19%.

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.