APA Corporation $APA Stock Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 6.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 394,665 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,919 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in APA were worth $16,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in APA in the second quarter worth $1,173,231,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of APA by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,181,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,159,000 after purchasing an additional 377,429 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of APA by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,376,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,016 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of APA by 1,726.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,569,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of APA by 55.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,154,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Up 3.6%

APA opened at $46.74 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $15.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.59, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.29. APA Corporation has a one year low of $23.06 and a one year high of $52.96.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.34. APA had a return on equity of 28.34% and a net margin of 23.08%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. APA’s revenue was up 30.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

APA declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on APA shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of APA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of APA from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of APA from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.14.

About APA

APA Corporation is an independent energy company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include operating wells and related infrastructure, as well as evaluating and developing oil and natural gas resources. The company’s principal operating areas include the United States and Egypt. APA also has offshore exploration interests in Suriname, where it has worked with partners to assess resources in the region. APA traces its history to Apache Corporation, founded in 1954.