Stephens Issues Positive Forecast for APA (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Price

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective hoisted by Stephens from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on APA. Cfra Research upgraded APA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of APA from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on APA from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on APA from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.58.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ APA traded up $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $23.83. 6,707,861 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,837,349. APA has a fifty-two week low of $13.58 and a fifty-two week high of $25.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97, a P/E/G ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.30.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 10.53%.The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. APA’s payout ratio is 33.44%.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APA. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter worth $639,000. Syon Capital LLC acquired a new position in APA in the third quarter valued at about $255,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in APA by 51.7% in the third quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 38,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $934,000 after buying an additional 13,115 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in APA during the third quarter worth about $318,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 140.2% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 9,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 5,681 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

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.