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

Key Points

• APA shares gapped down premarket from $42.96 to an open of $36.98 and last traded at $38.30 on a volume of about 5.31 million shares.
• Several analysts raised price targets (Citigroup, RBC and Stephens to $45), but the MarketBeat consensus remains a Hold with a $36.54 target; analyst breakdown: 7 Buy, 20 Hold, 4 Sell.
• APA beat the quarter with EPS of $0.91 versus $0.62 expected and revenue of $1.99B versus $1.89B, though revenue was down 26.6% YoY, and the company announced a $0.25 quarterly dividend (2.6% yield).

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $42.96, but opened at $36.98. APA shares last traded at $38.30, with a volume of 5,313,720 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on APA from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on APA from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on APA from $29.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on APA from $24.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.54.

APA Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $13.54 billion, a PE ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.47.

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

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. APA's payout ratio is 25.06%.

Insider Activity at APA

In other news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of APA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $833,290.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,349.82. The trade was a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of APA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of APA by 276.7% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,213 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 115.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of APA by 179.6% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,521 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.