Scotiabank Comments on APA’s FY2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:APA)

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) – Investment analysts at Scotiabank boosted their FY2024 earnings estimates for APA in a research note issued on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst P. Cheng now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $4.10 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $3.90. Scotiabank has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for APA’s current full-year earnings is $4.01 per share.

APA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Susquehanna dropped their price target on APA from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bernstein Bank dropped their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.55.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ APA opened at $23.68 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.73. The company has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 3.16. APA has a 1-year low of $20.32 and a 1-year high of $36.04. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. APA’s payout ratio is currently 14.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Juliet S. Ellis acquired 4,391 shares of APA 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in shares of APA by 20.8% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,414,000 after buying an additional 4,293,932 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411,270 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in APA by 131.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,813,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,704,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736,041 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in APA by 3,450.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 985,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,115,000 after acquiring an additional 958,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 112.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,448,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,092,000 after purchasing an additional 767,557 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.