APA (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $43.81, but opened at $45.15. APA shares last traded at $45.4090, with a volume of 392,828 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of APA in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of APA from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.21.

APA Trading Up 0.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.02.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 5.80 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is 21.14%.

APA announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of APA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of APA by 20.2% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 167,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,966,000 after acquiring an additional 28,175 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of APA by 14.6% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 5,344 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of APA by 8.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 363,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,824,000 after purchasing an additional 28,474 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of APA by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,181,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,159,000 after purchasing an additional 377,429 shares during the period. Finally, Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new stake in shares of APA during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,800,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

About APA

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s activities include identifying prospective resources, drilling and completing wells, and managing producing assets across multiple international markets.

APA’s operations have historically been concentrated in the Permian Basin of the United States and in Egypt’s Western Desert, where it participates in exploration and production activities through joint ventures.