APA’s (APA) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

APA (NASDAQ:APA)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by equities research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.76% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on APA in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seaport Research Partners began coverage on APA in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Benchmark raised their price target on APA from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.21.

APA Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of APA opened at $45.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.98. APA has a 1 year low of $21.63 and a 1 year high of $47.44. The stock has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of APA in the second quarter worth approximately $1,173,231,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in APA by 1.5% during the second 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 6.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,376,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,016 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 1,726.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,176,000 after acquiring an additional 4,569,779 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 55.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,154,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,626 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.