APA (NASDAQ:APA) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.18 EPS

APA (NASDAQ:APA) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18), Zacks reports. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion.

APA Stock Down 7.2 %

APA stock opened at $20.42 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.10. The company has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 3.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. APA has a 12 month low of $20.09 and a 12 month high of $36.04.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on APA. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.00 to $25.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.65.

Insider Activity

In other APA news, Director Juliet S. Ellis acquired 4,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.78 per share, with a total value of $100,026.98. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,292.08. The trade was a 54.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.