APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) to Issue $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 10th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 22nd.

APA has raised its dividend by an average of 45.5% annually over the last three years. APA has a payout ratio of 27.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect APA to earn $3.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.6%.

APA Price Performance

NASDAQ:APA opened at $25.16 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 3.23. APA has a 52 week low of $22.72 and a 52 week high of $43.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.02.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. APA had a net margin of 32.66% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 3.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on APA from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of APA from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of APA from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of APA in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.18.

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.