APA (NASDAQ:APA) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $45.96 and last traded at $45.7290, with a volume of 71642 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of APA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on APA from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered APA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.76.

APA Trading Down 0.4%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.49 and a 200 day moving average of $37.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.37.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of APA by 49.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,578 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of APA by 43.3% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of APA by 10.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 44,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 4,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of APA in the second quarter worth about $5,199,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company operates through subsidiaries and manages upstream assets spanning exploration, drilling, production and related field-development activities.

APA’s principal producing operations are in the Permian Basin of the United States and in Egypt. The company has also pursued offshore exploration opportunities in Suriname, where it has participated in drilling and appraisal activities in the country’s offshore blocks.