APA (NASDAQ:APA) Hits New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $26.00 to $23.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. APA traded as low as $20.58 and last traded at $20.69, with a volume of 2536462 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.94.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on APA from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bernstein Bank lowered their price target on APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.14.

Insider Activity at APA

In other APA news, Director Juliet S. Ellis purchased 4,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.78 per share, for a total transaction of $100,026.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,292.08. This represents a 54.58 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Woodstock Corp boosted its position in APA by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 308,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,540,000 after buying an additional 51,993 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 4.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,991,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,312,000 after purchasing an additional 485,291 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA in the third quarter worth about $7,238,000. Ellis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in APA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,499,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in APA by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,261,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,852,000 after purchasing an additional 149,762 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Trading Down 1.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 3.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 14.12%.

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.