APA (NASDAQ:APA) Trading 3.8% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) traded up 3.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $43.83 and last traded at $43.8880. 1,801,091 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 6,782,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on APA from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Stephens boosted their price objective on APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. KeyCorp set a $46.00 target price on APA in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of APA from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, APA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.14.

APA Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.37.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.14%.

APA announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of APA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of APA in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,173,231,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of APA by 1,726.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,569,779 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in APA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $134,558,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in APA by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,426,000 after buying an additional 3,117,032 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in APA by 240.5% in the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,662,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,727,000 after buying an additional 1,880,674 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About APA

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 operates through subsidiaries and manages upstream assets spanning exploration, drilling, production and related field-development activities.

APA’s principal producing operations are in the Permian Basin of the United States and in Egypt. The company has also pursued offshore exploration opportunities in Suriname, where it has participated in drilling and appraisal activities in the country’s offshore blocks.