APA (NASDAQ:APA) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $47.47 and last traded at $47.2870, with a volume of 223,324 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus raised APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of APA from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of APA from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.59.

APA Trading Up 0.8%

The firm has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.14%.

APA declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC bought a new position in shares of APA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $307,000. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in APA by 25.5% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 11,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 2,419 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in APA by 20.2% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 167,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,966,000 after acquiring an additional 28,175 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in APA by 14.6% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 5,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in APA by 8.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 363,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,824,000 after purchasing an additional 28,474 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) 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 prospective resources, drilling and completing wells, and managing producing assets across multiple international markets.

APA’s operations have historically been concentrated in the Permian Basin of the United States and in Egypt’s Western Desert, where it participates in exploration and production activities through joint ventures.