UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Sells 1,860,684 Shares of APA Corporation $APA

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management reduced its stake in APA Corporation by 35.1% in the first quarter, holding approximately $72.25 million worth of shares after the sale.
• APA Corporation reported $0.87 earnings per share for the latest quarter, significantly above the expected $0.45, although revenue fell 14.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, yielding 4.4% annually, with the dividend payout ratio currently at 33.44%.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lessened its stake in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 35.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,437,187 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,860,684 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 0.95% of APA worth $72,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of APA by 46.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,080,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,894,543 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA during the 1st quarter valued at $22,533,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of APA by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,932,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $292,871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,893 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of APA by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 36,439,749 shares of the company's stock valued at $765,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA during the 4th quarter valued at $19,796,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of APA from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of APA from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $28.00 target price (up previously from $26.00) on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.78.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.50. 3,995,483 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,874,446. The company has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm's 50-day moving average is $20.71 and its 200 day moving average is $18.96. APA Corporation has a 1 year low of $13.58 and a 1 year high of $27.48.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.03 billion. APA had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 20.98%. APA's revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. APA's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.44%.

About APA

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.