APA (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank Of Canada Analyst Says

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its target price upped by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $29.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 20.59% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of APA from $31.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of APA from $25.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of APA from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on shares of APA from $24.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.54.

APA Stock Performance

APA stock opened at $37.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.41 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.47. APA has a 52 week low of $13.58 and a 52 week high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that APA will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at APA

In other APA news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of APA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at $240,349.82. The trade was a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of APA

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in APA by 276.7% in the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its position in shares of APA by 115.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of APA in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of APA by 179.6% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Company Profile

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.