APA (NASDAQ:APA) Sets New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company downgraded the stock from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating. Wells Fargo & Company now has a $25.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $42.00. 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 subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on APA from $39.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other APA news, Director Juliet S. Ellis purchased 4,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 owns 12,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,292.08. The trade was a 54.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodstock Corp boosted its holdings in APA by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 308,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,540,000 after buying an additional 51,993 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of APA by 4.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 485,291 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of APA in the third quarter worth about $7,238,000. Ellis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the second quarter worth about $2,499,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake 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 period. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Trading Down 5.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.41 and a 200 day moving average of $26.51. The company has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 3.18.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. APA’s dividend 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.