APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seventeen have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.6786.

Several analysts have issued reports on APA shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of APA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Roth Capital set a $39.00 price target on APA in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Argus raised APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective 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, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in APA by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 49.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in APA by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,092,000 after purchasing an additional 806,252 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in APA by 10.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 44,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 4,297 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in APA in the 2nd quarter worth $5,199,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Trading Down 3.2%

APA stock opened at $42.77 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.82 and its 200 day moving average is $36.90. APA has a one year low of $21.57 and a one year high of $45.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

APA Company Profile

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.