APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Raised to $26.00

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports.

APA has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on APA from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on APA from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on APA from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.63.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $32.97 on Monday. APA has a 52 week low of $13.58 and a 52 week high of $33.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Analysts anticipate that APA will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. APA’s payout ratio is 25.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APA. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of APA by 869.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 194,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,872,000 after acquiring an additional 174,369 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. purchased a new position in shares of APA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,214,000. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 284,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,000 after purchasing an additional 79,451 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in APA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,337,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in APA by 2,049.4% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 403,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,797,000 after purchasing an additional 384,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

About APA

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.