APA Co. (APA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 on May 22nd

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 8th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th.

APA has increased its dividend payment by an average of 45.5% annually over the last three years. APA has a dividend payout ratio of 19.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect APA to earn $5.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.8%.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $32.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 3.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. APA has a 12-month low of $29.47 and a 12-month high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that APA will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of APA

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of APA by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,643,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,050,000 after buying an additional 924,400 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of APA by 4.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,525,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $992,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,681 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of APA by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,458,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,144,000 after purchasing an additional 153,743 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in APA by 6.7% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,655,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,097,000 after purchasing an additional 229,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in APA by 191.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,144,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,952,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064,022 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on APA. Raymond James cut their target price on APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Monday. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Johnson Rice downgraded shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, APA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.80.

APA Company 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.