Citigroup Cuts APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target to $20.00

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $24.00 to $20.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.60.

APA Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ APA opened at $20.81 on Monday. APA has a one year low of $17.66 and a one year high of $36.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 3.26.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 44.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in APA by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 456,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,176,000 after buying an additional 13,557 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in APA in the third quarter valued at $281,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in APA by 13.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 75,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after buying an additional 9,081 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in APA by 48.8% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its stake in APA by 1.7% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 61,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.