Capital One Financial Reduces Earnings Estimates for APA

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) – Stock analysts at Capital One Financial dropped their FY2024 EPS estimates for APA in a note issued to investors on Thursday, January 23rd. Capital One Financial analyst B. Velie now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $4.03 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $4.09. The consensus estimate for APA’s current full-year earnings is $4.08 per share. Capital One Financial also issued estimates for APA’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.08 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.67 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.66 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.69 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.70 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.72 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $1.73 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on APA. Citigroup reduced their price target on APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James upped their target price on APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bernstein Bank dropped their price target on shares of APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.65.

APA Trading Up 0.3 %

APA stock opened at $23.38 on Monday. APA has a 52-week low of $20.32 and a 52-week high of $36.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 3.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.26.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Woodstock Corp increased its stake in APA by 20.3% during the third quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 308,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,540,000 after purchasing an additional 51,993 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in APA by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,991,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,312,000 after buying an additional 485,291 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in APA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,238,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 13.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,261,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,852,000 after acquiring an additional 149,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of APA in the third quarter worth $757,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Juliet S. Ellis purchased 4,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 12,436 shares in the company, 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 available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.