Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in APA Corporation $APA

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 96,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,000. APA makes up 0.7% of Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of APA by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,869,891 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in APA by 7,627.3% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,013,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,400 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in APA by 160.5% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 336,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,165,000 after buying an additional 892,438 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in APA by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,092,000 after buying an additional 806,252 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of APA by 528.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 681,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,466,000 after buying an additional 573,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on APA shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $21.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on APA from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on APA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.35.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APA opened at $25.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.28 and its 200-day moving average is $23.41. APA Corporation has a 1-year low of $13.58 and a 1-year high of $27.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.74.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted 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 net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

APA Company Profile

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.