APA (NASDAQ:APA) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

APA (NASDAQ:APA) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. APA had a return on equity of 25.59% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share.

APA Stock Up 5.4%

APA stock opened at $36.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. APA has a 1-year low of $18.84 and a 1-year high of $45.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.66. The company has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 0.35.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of APA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APA. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 115.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of APA in the third quarter valued at $57,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 54.6% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 4,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in APA by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in APA during the fourth quarter worth $123,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Capital One Financial boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Roth Capital set a $39.00 target price on APA in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.38.

About APA

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.