Investors were energetically bullish about energy stock APA (APA 7.52%) on Wednesday. They were cheered by the company’s latest dividend declaration, not to mention an analyst’s price-target raise. These factors pushed APA stock well higher; it closed the day well in the black with a 7.5% improvement. That was several orders of magnitude higher than the S&P 500 index’s 0.3% advance.

A payout and a price-target raise

Just after market close on Tuesday, APA declared a new quarterly stockholder payout of $0.25 per share. This is to be dispensed on Nov. 21 to investors of record as of Oct. 22. This maintains one of the steadiest and most reliable dividend policies in the oil and gas industry. APA has paid the same $0.25 since early 2024; prior to that, it handed out $0.20. At the most recent closing stock price, this yields 4.3%.

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Separately, analyst John Freeman of Raymond James bumped his APA price target slightly higher to $0.28 per share from his preceding $0.26. He maintained his outperform (buy, in other words) recommendation as he did so.

Freeman’s move is based largely on APA’s second-quarter performance, according to reports. In the analyst’s opinion, the company demonstrated that its turnaround efforts are bearing fruit. He also waxed bullish about management’s increased guidance for cost savings this year (this was upsized from $130 million to $200 million), which should help boost the bottom line.

Second-quarter star

Investors were rightfully encouraged by APA’s results that quarter. Although it posted a top-line decrease on a year-over-year basis (largely attributable to lower prices), it managed to boost profitability. And the company convincingly beat the consensus analyst estimates for both headline metrics.