Guerilla Stock Trading has detected bullish option flow in APA stock on October 14, 2021.
Bullish Option Flow In APA Stock
Bullish option flow was detected in APA stock with 21,117 calls trading, 5x expected, and implied vol increasing over 1 point to 57.91%. Nov-21 $27.50 calls and Oct-21 $25 calls were the most active options, with total volume in those strikes near 16,200 contracts.
Make sure to review this lesson on option flow so that you understand the image above.
APA Corporation Achieves Goal to Eliminate Routine Flaring Onshore US
On October 11, 2021, APA Corporation (Nasdaq: APA) announced its subsidiary, Apache Corporation, has ended routine flaring in its U.S. onshore operations, achieving one of its 2021 ESG goals three months ahead of schedule.
“In early 2021, we set out to eliminate routine flaring in U.S. onshore operations as part of our broader efforts to continuously reduce our environmental footprint. We established an aggressive goal, and I am proud to announce we have achieved the goal ahead of schedule,” said John J. Christmann IV, APA’s CEO, and president. “I’m grateful for our dedicated team, who has been working diligently to make this happen. We attained the goal through a concentrated effort, which included communicating clear objectives and adding compression, and optimizing facilities so more gas could enter the gathering system for sale. Future wells in the U.S. onshore will not be brought online without adequate gas takeaway capacity.”
Before 2021, Apache’s majority-owned midstream company, Altus Midstream, invested more than $850 million in two new natural gas pipelines. Apache made firm transportation commitments on both pipelines to help underwrite and ensure the construction of that infrastructure. APA believes this capacity investment was an important and necessary element to move gas to market, thus significantly reducing the practice of flaring for operators throughout the Permian Basin.
“Our collective challenge as an industry is reducing emissions while continuing to deliver the abundant, reliable energy the world needs. We are committed to the responsible production of natural gas and oil and helping to elevate people around the globe to higher standards of living,” concluded Christmann.
In 2021, APA announced new environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals that tie directly to incentive compensation for all employees and are aligned with the company’s ESG focus areas of air, water, communities, and people. A cornerstone of the 2021 ESG goals was the elimination of routine flaring in U.S. onshore operations by the end of 2021. APA is also tracking ahead of other U.S. onshore environmental goals this year, including overall flaring intensity of less than 1% of gas produced and limiting freshwater consumption to less than 20% of total water use.
APA Corporation owns consolidated subsidiaries that explore for and produce oil and gas in the United States, Egypt and the United Kingdom and that explore for oil and gas offshore Suriname. APA posts announcements, operational updates, investor information and press releases on its website.
APA stock price target raised to $25 from $21 at Truist
On October 7, 2021, Truist analyst Neal Dingmann raised the firm’s price target on APA stock to $25 from $21 and kept a Hold rating on the shares as part of broader research on Exploration and Production names in the Energy sector. The analyst is increasing his oil price deck estimates by over 6% for Q4 of 2021 to 2023 and natural gas prices by over 34%. Dingmann adds that consensus estimates continue to trend below rising spot and forward prices, creating an environment whereby free cash flows should, for the most part, be able to surprise the upside.
Citi downgrades APA Stock to Neutral on lack of near-term Suriname upside
On September 30, 2021, Citi analyst Scott Gruber downgraded APA stock to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $23, down from $27, as he sees limited upside from Suriname in the near term after TotalEnergies (TOT) presented a five-year plan at its capital markets day earlier this week that did not include a production contribution from the Suriname project. Asked about Block 58, Total’s CEO said the appraisal had been “challenging” and that the first project had yet to be selected, Gruber noted. While he believes APA shares should reflect “some value” from the potential in Suriname, he now sees it being more challenging to see “incremental value attribution,” the analyst said. Additionally, Gruber said that APA “remains in deleveraging mode,” and he sees its cash return prospects as inferior to peers.
APA Corp. raises quarterly dividend to 6.25c per share
The dividend on APA common shares is payable on November 22 to stockholders of record on October 22. The dividend increases to 25c per share on an annualized basis, up 150% from the previous annualized level of 10c per share.
APA Stock Technical Analysis
Although APA has an excellent technical rating, it does not offer a high-quality setup at the moment. Prices have been extended to the upside lately. For a nice entry, it is better to wait for consolidation. See more technical analysis here.
