APA (NASDAQ:APA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.18 EPS

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18), Zacks reports. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion.

APA Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of APA stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 40,476,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,719,711. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $22.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.98. APA has a 52 week low of $19.84 and a 52 week high of $36.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 3.15.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA's payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on APA from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price on APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.65.

Insider Transactions at APA

In other news, Director Juliet S. Ellis bought 4,391 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.78 per share, with a total value of $100,026.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $283,292.08. This represents a 54.58 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.