Cullen Investment Group LTD. Makes New $508,000 Investment in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of APA by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,719,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,714,656,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003,862 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in APA by 4.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,525,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $992,577,000 after buying an additional 1,073,681 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in APA by 3.8% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,609,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,450,000 after buying an additional 167,934 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in APA by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,458,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,144,000 after buying an additional 153,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in APA by 6.7% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,655,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,097,000 after buying an additional 229,516 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of APA in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.80.

APA Stock Down 1.7 %

APA stock opened at $33.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 3.27. APA Co. has a 52 week low of $29.47 and a 52 week high of $46.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. APA had a return on equity of 62.64% and a net margin of 34.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.78%.

APA 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.