Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stock Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 53.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,794 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 35,716 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in APA were worth $2,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of APA by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 101,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 13,266 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in APA during the third quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its stake in APA by 2.7% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 68,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,665,000 after buying an additional 1,771 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of APA by 30.1% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 74,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 17,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of APA by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 20,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 3,623 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of APA from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.60.

APA Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ APA opened at $20.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. APA Co. has a one year low of $17.66 and a one year high of $36.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a PE ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 3.26.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.25%.

APA 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.