APA (NASDAQ:APA) Receives Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

APA (NASDAQ:APA)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $41.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 65.26% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on APA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on APA from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on APA from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on APA from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.67.

APA Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of APA traded up $0.37 on Tuesday, reaching $24.81. The stock had a trading volume of 281,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,231,456. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 3.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.23. APA has a 12-month low of $22.72 and a 12-month high of $43.58.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. APA had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 32.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in APA by 131.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,813,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736,041 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in APA by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 15,705,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,520,000 after buying an additional 2,367,570 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in APA by 4.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,648,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,535,001,000 after buying an additional 2,004,555 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in APA by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 20,299,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $728,347,000 after buying an additional 1,938,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webs Creek Capital Management LP purchased a new position in APA in the first quarter valued at $28,593,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.