APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Raised to $58.00

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price target lifted by Susquehanna from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of APA from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Mizuho increased their price target on APA from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on APA from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Friday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.76.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APA opened at $49.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. APA has a fifty-two week low of $21.63 and a fifty-two week high of $50.49.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that APA will post 6.10 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.14%.

APA announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in APA in the second quarter worth $1,173,231,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of APA by 1,726.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,569,779 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of APA during the second quarter valued at about $134,558,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of APA by 240.5% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,662,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,880,674 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of APA by 55.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,154,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s activities include identifying hydrocarbon resources, drilling and completing wells, operating producing properties, and managing related infrastructure.

APA’s principal producing areas include the Permian Basin in the United States and Egypt’s Western Desert, where it operates through joint ventures with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.