APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have assigned APA Corporation a consensus rating of "Hold", with mixed recommendations including three sell, ten hold, and three buy ratings.
• The average price target for APA shares among analysts is $23.50, with UBS Group and Citigroup issuing revised price objectives of $19.00 and $18.00, respectively.
• APA recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, representing an annualized yield of 5.24% and a payout ratio of 35.97%.

Shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

Several analysts recently commented on APA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on APA from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 target price (up from $25.00) on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna dropped their target price on APA from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $19.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of APA in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on APA from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th.

APA Stock Down 1.0%

APA stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,926,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,564,429. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $18.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. APA has a 52-week low of $13.58 and a 52-week high of $33.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.01, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.25.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.17 billion. APA had a return on equity of 23.22% and a net margin of 9.75%. The firm's revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. APA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 113,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,630,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in APA by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 46,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its holdings in APA by 5.9% in the second quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 1.5% in the second quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in APA by 0.7% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 89,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.