APA Corporation $APA Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 394,665 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,919 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.11% of APA worth $16,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of APA during the second quarter worth approximately $1,173,231,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of APA by 1,726.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,176,000 after acquiring an additional 4,569,779 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of APA in the 2nd quarter valued at $134,558,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of APA by 240.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,662,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,880,674 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in APA by 55.0% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on APA. Argus upgraded shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of APA from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of APA from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of APA from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.14.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $46.74 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.37. APA Corporation has a 12 month low of $23.06 and a 12 month high of $52.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.29.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. APA had a net margin of 23.08% and a return on equity of 28.34%. APA’s quarterly revenue was up 30.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

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

APA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 16th that permits the company to buy back 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

APA 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.