APA (NASDAQ:APA) Given New $29.00 Price Target at UBS Group

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective trimmed by UBS Group from $35.00 to $29.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

APA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an underperform rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on APA from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on APA from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an in-line rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $36.38.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA opened at $25.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.09. The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 3.24. APA has a 52 week low of $22.72 and a 52 week high of $43.58.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. APA had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 32.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that APA will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.19%.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of APA by 4.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,648,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,535,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004,555 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $728,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,335 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P lifted its stake in APA by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 15,705,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,367,570 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in APA by 131.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,813,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,704,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736,041 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in APA by 15.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,358,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,865,000 after acquiring an additional 455,312 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About APA

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.