APA (NASDAQ:APA) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for APA’s Q3 2026 earnings at $0.56 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.50 EPS and Q3 2027 earnings at $0.56 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of APA from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of APA from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Barclays set a $24.00 price target on APA in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, APA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.39.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,819,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,533,642. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.03. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.14, a P/E/G ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.74. APA has a 1-year low of $13.58 and a 1-year high of $27.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 15.49%.The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. APA’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in APA by 157.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,970,000 after buying an additional 1,869,891 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of APA by 13.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,030,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674,739 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in APA by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,326 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of APA by 7,627.3% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,013,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,608,000 after buying an additional 1,000,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in APA by 160.5% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 336,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,165,000 after acquiring an additional 892,438 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting APA

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company-reported positives — APA repurchased 2.7 million shares in 4Q25 at an average $24.17 and reported a pre-tax net gain of $193 million on oil & gas purchases/sales, supporting shareholder value and liquidity. QuiverQuant bulletin
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan trimmed its price target to $25 and kept a neutral rating — a modest PT cut that signals limited upside from recent levels. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies raised its target to $22 and maintains a hold — another relatively muted analyst view that keeps expectations around current levels. MarketScreener
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgraded APA from Hold to Strong Sell and trimmed near-term EPS estimates — a steep sell-side view that increases downside pressure and may prompt selling by quantitatively driven funds. Zacks.com
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays reaffirmed an underweight stance (downgrade coverage) — another influential bank signaling limited conviction, adding to negative sentiment. MSN/coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman raised its PT to $23 but kept a Sell rating — the maintained sell call reinforces downside expectations from a major sell-side voice. MarketScreener
• Negative Sentiment: Operational headwinds disclosed in APA’s 4Q25 supplemental info — the company curtailed ~91 MMcf/d of U.S. gas and ~7,600 b/d of NGLs due to weak hub prices and recorded $36M of transaction/reorganization costs; these factors directly weigh on near-term results. GlobeNewswire

About APA

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.