APA’s (APA) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $49.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of APA from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. KeyCorp set a $46.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of APA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.38.

APA Price Performance

APA opened at $45.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.02. APA has a 52 week low of $21.63 and a 52 week high of $47.44. The company has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that APA will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.14%.

APA declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $835,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in APA during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,468,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new position in APA in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,800,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in APA by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 276,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 64,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new position in APA in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,703,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.