APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.55.

APA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of APA from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Insider Activity at APA

In other APA news, Director Juliet S. Ellis bought 4,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.78 per share, for a total transaction of $100,026.98. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,292.08. This represents a 54.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APA. Woodstock Corp grew its position in shares of APA by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 308,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,540,000 after acquiring an additional 51,993 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in APA by 4.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,991,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,312,000 after purchasing an additional 485,291 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in APA during the third quarter valued at $7,238,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in APA by 13.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,261,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,852,000 after buying an additional 149,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of APA in the third quarter valued at $757,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $23.66 on Wednesday. APA has a 1 year low of $20.32 and a 1 year high of $36.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $22.43 and its 200-day moving average is $25.76. The company has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 3.16.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. APA’s payout ratio is 14.12%.

APA Company 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.