APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Short Interest Down 13.0% in July

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,400,000 shares, a decline of 13.0% from the July 15th total of 16,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of APA

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American National Bank increased its position in APA by 208.5% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of APA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in APA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in APA by 75.4% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on APA from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of APA in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Mizuho boosted their price target on APA from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.27.

APA Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $29.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 3.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.77. APA has a one year low of $26.81 and a one year high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. APA had a net margin of 32.66% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Analysts predict that APA will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.19%.

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.