APA (NASDAQ:APA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on APA. Barclays lifted their target price on APA from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of APA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Monday, September 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have given 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 $45.14.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $44.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a PE ratio of 7.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.29. APA has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.96. 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 $45.95 and a 200-day moving average of $38.17.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.48 billion. APA had a return on equity of 28.97% and a net margin of 23.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that APA will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

APA announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 16th that allows the company to buy back 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.23%.

Institutional Trading of APA

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter worth approximately $1,173,231,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in APA by 1.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,181,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,159,000 after purchasing an additional 377,429 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in APA by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,376,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,099,000 after buying an additional 1,055,016 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in APA by 1,726.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,176,000 after buying an additional 4,569,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in APA by 55.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,154,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,309,000 after buying an additional 1,473,626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation is an independent energy company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include operating wells and related infrastructure, as well as evaluating and developing oil and natural gas resources.

The company’s principal operating areas include the United States and Egypt. APA also has offshore exploration interests in Suriname, where it has worked with partners to assess resources in the region.

APA traces its history to Apache Corporation, founded in 1954.