Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Takes $125,000 Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in APA by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,230,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,498,000 after buying an additional 850,052 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in APA by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,886,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,540,000 after purchasing an additional 894,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in APA by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,507,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,016,000 after purchasing an additional 200,770 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in APA by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,092,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,500,000 after purchasing an additional 929,770 shares during the period. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in shares of APA by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 1,532,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,382,000 after purchasing an additional 88,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $15.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. APA Co. has a 12 month low of $13.58 and a 12 month high of $33.41. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 2.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.10.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. Sell-side analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 44.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on APA shares. Morgan Stanley set a $20.00 price objective on APA and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna reduced their price target on APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank lowered their price target on APA from $26.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of APA from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.21.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. It has oil and gas operations in the United States, Egypt, and North Sea. The company also has exploration and appraisal activities in Suriname, as well as holds interests in projects located in Uruguay and internationally.