APA (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Down 5.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares fell 5.5% intraday to about $37.33 on Tuesday, with only ~1.02 million shares trading—about an 87% decline from the stock’s average daily volume—after a prior close of $39.49.
• Quarterly results beat estimates (EPS $0.91 vs. $0.62 consensus; revenue $1.99B vs. $1.89B) despite revenue being down 26.6% year-over-year, and the company announced a $0.25 quarterly dividend (annual $1.00, ~2.7% yield).
• Analyst views are mixed with an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.08 (targets range roughly $27–$47), while institutional activity includes notable buying by Goldman Sachs and a small insider sale by a director.

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) shares dropped 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $37.61 and last traded at $37.3340. Approximately 1,024,689 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 8,175,564 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on APA. Susquehanna raised their price target on APA from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Evercore upped their price objective on APA from $25.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of APA from $35.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of APA in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.08.

APA Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $34.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.89.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. APA had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 15.55%.The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. APA's payout ratio is currently 25.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at $240,349.82. This trade represents a 77.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in APA by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 49.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 43.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,092,000 after buying an additional 806,252 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of APA by 10.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 44,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 4,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of APA in the second quarter valued at about $5,199,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About APA

APA Corporation NASDAQ: APA is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA's largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.

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