APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, sixteen have issued a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.50.

APA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of APA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Capital One Financial upped their price objective on APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup increased their target price on APA from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Susquehanna raised their target price on APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on APA from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th.

APA Price Performance

NASDAQ:APA opened at $42.54 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.80 and a 200-day moving average of $36.39. The company has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. APA has a 52 week low of $21.57 and a 52 week high of $45.66. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that APA will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of APA in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,173,231,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of APA by 3,143.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,395,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,290,000 after purchasing an additional 12,982,685 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in APA by 1,726.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,569,779 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in APA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $134,558,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in APA by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,426,000 after buying an additional 3,117,032 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.