APA (NASDAQ:APA) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com cut shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on APA. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on APA from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an underweight rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of APA in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of APA from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, APA currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $42.20.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $30.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $9.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 3.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $32.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.91. APA has a one year low of $28.90 and a one year high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. APA had a return on equity of 45.32% and a net margin of 34.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that APA will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.19%.

Institutional Trading of APA

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harris Associates L P raised its position in APA by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 15,705,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,367,570 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $1,714,656,000 after buying an additional 2,003,862 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in APA by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,299,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $728,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,335 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in APA by 130.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,534,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,037,000 after acquiring an additional 867,257 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of APA by 1,527.3% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 921,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,880,000 after purchasing an additional 865,026 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About APA

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.