APA (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stephens Analyst Says

Key Points

• Stephens raised its APA price target from $49 to $51, implying 12.05% upside, while keeping an “equal weight” rating.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Hold,” with a $44.83 average price target; 1 analyst rates APA Strong Buy, 11 Buy, 15 Hold, and 4 Sell.
• APA beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $1.94 versus $1.60 expected and revenue of $2.77 billion, up 30.9% year over year. The company also authorized a share repurchase plan for up to 40 million shares.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Stephens from $49.00 to $51.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Stephens's target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.05% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on APA. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on APA from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on APA from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Zacks Research raised APA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on APA from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.83.

APA Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $45.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $15.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.29. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $45.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.89. APA has a 12-month low of $22.81 and a 12-month high of $52.96.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.34. APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 30.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that APA will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

APA declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APA. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of APA by 520.8% in the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the first quarter worth $28,000. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the third quarter valued at $30,000. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the second quarter valued at $33,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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