APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Short Interest Update

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,960,000 shares, a growth of 12.1% from the January 15th total of 24,040,000 shares. Currently, 7.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 6,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

APA Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $23.14 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 3.15. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $20.32 and a fifty-two week high of $36.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.40.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. APA’s payout ratio is currently 14.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at APA

In other news, Director Juliet S. Ellis purchased 4,391 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.78 per share, for a total transaction of $100,026.98. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at $283,292.08. This represents a 54.58 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APA. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA in the second quarter worth $308,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA in the third quarter worth $88,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of APA by 9.3% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 191,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,687,000 after buying an additional 16,230 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of APA by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 34,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 32.1% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 10,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 2,470 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on APA. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $25.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of APA in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of APA from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, APA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.65.

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.