Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 99,712 Shares of APA Corporation $APA

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 179.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,418 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 99,712 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in APA were worth $6,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APA. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in APA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its position in shares of APA by 115.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other APA news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of APA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $392,392.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,675,072.40. The trade was a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

APA Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of APA stock opened at $34.28 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.51. APA Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.86 and a 52 week high of $45.66. The stock has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on APA shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of APA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stephens boosted their price objective on APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on APA from $29.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on APA from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Capital raised APA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.42.

About APA

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.