Scissortail Wealth Management LLC Buys New Stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in APA during the third quarter worth $256,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of APA by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,237,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,412,000 after buying an additional 38,505 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of APA by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 726,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,053,000 after buying an additional 90,610 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of APA by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,531,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,037,000 after buying an additional 24,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,050,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of APA traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.77. 627,312 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,868,713. The company has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 3.27. APA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.47 and a fifty-two week high of $46.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.25 and its 200-day moving average is $34.75.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. APA had a return on equity of 62.64% and a net margin of 34.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on APA. Barclays began coverage on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.80.

APA Company 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.