Wells Fargo & Company Begins Coverage on APA (NASDAQ:APA)

Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on APA. Barclays started coverage on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an equal weight rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of APA in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of APA from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of APA from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $42.25.

APA Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $32.49 on Wednesday. APA has a 52-week low of $29.47 and a 52-week high of $46.15. The stock has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 3.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $32.55 and a 200-day moving average of $34.46.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. APA had a return on equity of 62.64% and a net margin of 34.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that APA will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of APA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $256,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,193,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,237,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,412,000 after acquiring an additional 38,505 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in APA by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 726,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,053,000 after acquiring an additional 90,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,531,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,037,000 after acquiring an additional 24,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. It has oil and gas operations in the United States, Egypt, and North Sea. The company also has exploration and appraisal activities in Suriname, as well as holds interests in projects located in Uruguay and internationally.