Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 853 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lessened its stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 11.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,431 shares of the company’s stock after selling 853 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in APA were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APA. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in shares of APA by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 15,705,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,367,570 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of APA by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,648,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,535,001,000 after acquiring an additional 2,004,555 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,299,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $728,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,335 shares during the last quarter. Webs Creek Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of APA in the 1st quarter worth about $28,593,000. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of APA by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,235,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,866,000 after acquiring an additional 626,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Down 8.0 %

APA opened at $28.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.69 and a 200 day moving average of $30.98. The company has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 3.26. APA Co. has a 12 month low of $27.17 and a 12 month high of $46.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. APA had a net margin of 32.66% and a return on equity of 35.95%. APA’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that APA Co. will post 4.17 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 11.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on APA shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of APA from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of APA from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.91.

APA 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.