APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Raised to $41.00

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective lifted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $37.00 to $41.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

APA has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of APA from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Monday, September 7th. KeyCorp set a $46.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of APA from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of APA from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.31.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APA traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $48.44. The company had a trading volume of 4,427,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,991,392. APA has a 12 month low of $23.06 and a 12 month high of $52.96. The stock has a market cap of $16.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.59.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.34. APA had a return on equity of 28.34% and a net margin of 23.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that APA will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.23%.

APA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of APA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Plustick Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,077,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of APA by 36.9% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 587,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,407,000 after acquiring an additional 158,450 shares during the period. US Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 47.5% during the third quarter. US Asset Management LLC now owns 9,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 3,132 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of APA by 11.4% during the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 349,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,521,000 after acquiring an additional 35,782 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in APA by 33.3% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 32,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,157 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation is an independent energy company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include operating wells and related infrastructure, as well as evaluating and developing oil and natural gas resources. The company’s principal operating areas include the United States and Egypt. APA also has offshore exploration interests in Suriname, where it has worked with partners to assess resources in the region. APA traces its history to Apache Corporation, founded in 1954.