APA (NASDAQ:APA) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

APA (NASDAQ:APA) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.22, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. APA had a return on equity of 45.32% and a net margin of 34.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS.

APA Price Performance

NASDAQ APA traded down $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $31.08. 9,326,087 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,289,438. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.70 and a 200-day moving average of $31.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. APA has a 52 week low of $27.17 and a 52 week high of $46.15. The stock has a market cap of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 3.26.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is presently 11.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on APA from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on APA from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on APA from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered APA from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on APA from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.86.

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.