APA (NASDAQ:APA) Trading Down 3.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) were down 3.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $20.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. APA traded as low as $20.29 and last traded at $20.36. Approximately 2,355,633 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 7,056,188 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.01.

APA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Argus raised shares of APA to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on APA from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.72.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 113,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in APA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 77,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its position in APA by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 46,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in APA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 138,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in APA by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 10,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.88 and a 200 day moving average of $20.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. APA’s revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.97%.

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.