APA (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $29.00 to $28.00. The stock had previously closed at $26.70, but opened at $25.69. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. APA shares last traded at $25.24, with a volume of 867,606 shares traded.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on APA. Citigroup cut their price target on APA from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of APA from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Mizuho cut their price objective on APA from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays cut their target price on APA from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of APA from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of APA by 4.2% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 406,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,941,000 after purchasing an additional 16,455 shares during the period. Woodstock Corp lifted its position in APA by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 308,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,540,000 after acquiring an additional 51,993 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA in the third quarter valued at about $88,000. Foundation Resource Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 1.4% in the third quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 151,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in APA by 357.1% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.31. The stock has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 3.23.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. APA had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 32.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that APA Co. will post 3.97 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.19%.

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.