APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $44.38 According to Analysts

Shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have given a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.76.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of APA from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on APA in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on APA in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded APA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on APA from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $49.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.46 and a 200-day moving average of $39.42. APA has a one year low of $21.63 and a one year high of $50.49.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that APA will post 6.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buy back 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in APA during the third quarter valued at $337,000. Credit Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter worth about $208,000. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Lmcg Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $539,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation 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 hydrocarbon resources, drilling and completing wells, operating producing properties, and managing related infrastructure.

APA’s principal producing areas include the Permian Basin in the United States and Egypt’s Western Desert, where it operates through joint ventures with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.