APA Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:APA)

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 8th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share on Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th.

APA has raised its dividend by an average of 45.5% annually over the last three years. APA has a payout ratio of 19.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect APA to earn $5.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.8%.

APA Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $32.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. APA has a 52 week low of $29.47 and a 52 week high of $46.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.28 and its 200 day moving average is $34.73. The company has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 3.27.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. The business’s revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that APA will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of APA by 228.6% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of APA by 117.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of APA by 2,535.1% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 70.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 28.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on APA. Johnson Rice cut shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 5th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of APA from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.80.

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.