Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Holdings in APA Corporation $APA

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its APA stake by 179% in the first quarter, buying an additional 99,712 shares and bringing its holdings to 155,418 shares worth about $6.6 million.
• APA beat earnings expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting $1.38 EPS versus $1.11 expected and revenue of $2.33 billion versus $2.13 billion expected, though revenue was still down 11.7% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, equal to a 2.9% annual yield, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $40.42.

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 179.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,418 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 99,712 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in APA were worth $6,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in APA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in APA by 49.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of APA by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,092,000 after purchasing an additional 806,252 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in APA by 10.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in APA in the 2nd quarter worth $5,199,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA opened at $34.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. APA Corporation has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $45.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.72 and a 200 day moving average of $33.51.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.APA's revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA's dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at APA

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $392,392.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 66,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on APA. Zacks Research cut APA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Capital One Financial increased their target price on APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of APA from $21.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings cut APA from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.42.

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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