APA (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Up 4.3%

Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) shot up 4.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $25.60 and last traded at $25.51. 2,424,127 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 6,239,032 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on APA. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of APA from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of APA from $39.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on APA from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, APA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.43.

APA Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 3.24. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.43 and its 200-day moving average is $29.79.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.22. APA had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 32.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.19%.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in APA by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,648,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,535,001,000 after buying an additional 2,004,555 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in APA by 10.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its stake in shares of APA by 17.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in APA by 131.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,813,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,704,000 after buying an additional 2,736,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of APA by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,358,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,865,000 after acquiring an additional 455,312 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.