APA (NASDAQ:APA) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.12 EPS

APA (NASDAQ:APA) released its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.12), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. APA had a return on equity of 45.32% and a net margin of 34.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS.

APA Price Performance

NASDAQ:APA traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.26. 9,600,753 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,374,839. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 3.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.13. APA has a 1 year low of $28.90 and a 1 year high of $46.15.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Johnson Rice cut shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on APA from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.05.

APA Company Profile

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.