APA Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:APA)

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%.

APA has raised its dividend payment by an average of 61.5% annually over the last three years. APA has a payout ratio of 29.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect APA to earn $3.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.5%.

APA Stock Down 2.5 %

APA stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $21.64. 5,239,087 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,470,433. APA has a 1 year low of $20.32 and a 1 year high of $36.04. The firm has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 3.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $25.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bernstein Bank decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Juliet S. Ellis acquired 4,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.78 per share, for a total transaction of $100,026.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $283,292.08. The trade was a 54.58 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.