APA (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as “Equal Weight” by Stephens

APA (NASDAQ:APA)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Stephens in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential upside of 6.76% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on APA. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of APA from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of APA from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. KeyCorp set a $46.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.21.

APA Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of APA stock traded up $0.43 on Friday, hitting $45.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,726,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,708,094. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.42. APA has a twelve month low of $21.63 and a twelve month high of $47.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.40 and a 200 day moving average of $38.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that APA will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APA. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of APA by 20.2% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 167,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,966,000 after purchasing an additional 28,175 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 14.6% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after buying an additional 5,344 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in APA by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 363,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,824,000 after acquiring an additional 28,474 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of APA by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,181,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,159,000 after purchasing an additional 377,429 shares during the period. Finally, Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new position in APA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,800,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

About APA

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’s activities include identifying prospective resources, drilling and completing wells, and managing producing assets across multiple international markets.

APA’s operations have historically been concentrated in the Permian Basin of the United States and in Egypt’s Western Desert, where it participates in exploration and production activities through joint ventures.