APA (NASDAQ:APA) Hits New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) hit 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.94.

APA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bernstein Bank lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on APA from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of APA from $26.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at APA

In other APA news, Director Juliet S. Ellis bought 4,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.78 per share, with a total value of $100,026.98. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at $283,292.08. This trade represents a 54.58 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of APA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of APA by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,270 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in shares of APA by 20.8% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,414,000 after buying an additional 4,293,932 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $293,312,000 after buying an additional 485,291 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of APA by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,667,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,466,000 after buying an additional 326,042 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,928,000 after acquiring an additional 224,547 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

APA Stock Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 3.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.44.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 14.12%.

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.