APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Lowered to $24.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $27.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on APA. Barclays cut their price target on APA from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of APA from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.58.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $15.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.09 and a 200-day moving average of $22.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 2.74. APA has a fifty-two week low of $13.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.25.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in APA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 113,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,630,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of APA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 77,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its stake in shares of APA by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 46,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in APA by 84.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in APA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 138,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% 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.