Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 115,104 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,770 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $2,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in APA. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in APA by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411,270 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in APA by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,414,000 after acquiring an additional 4,293,932 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in APA by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,886,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,540,000 after acquiring an additional 894,574 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in APA by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,928,000 after acquiring an additional 224,547 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 17.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,102,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,351,000 after buying an additional 600,612 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Susquehanna decreased their price target on APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James cut APA from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.60.

APA Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of APA opened at $20.61 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 3.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $17.66 and a 1 year high of $36.05.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. On average, analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.25%.

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.