Value Hedge Funds are Winning in 2022 Thanks to These 5 Stocks

3. APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 46 

PE Ratio: 6.51

YTD Increase in Share Price as of June 16: 50.32%

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) is an oil and gas exploration and production firm. On May 4, the firm posted earnings for the first quarter of 2022, reporting a revenue of $2.6 billion, up close to 43% compared to the revenue over the same period last year and beating analyst expectations by $230 million. The firm had free cash flow of $675 million during the first three months of 2022, up 39% from the previous quarter.

On June 14, Barclays analyst Jeanine Wai maintained an Overweight rating on APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) stock and raised the price target to $62 from $54, noting the overall sentiment around the oil and gas sector was constructive. 

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Chicago-based firm Harris Associates is a leading shareholder in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) with 19.5 million shares worth more than $806 million. 

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Oakmark Funds, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“Our oil holding, APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) (+54%) was one of our top contributors in the quarter as oil prices rallied due to tight supplies, which were then exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although their share prices have increased considerably, both companies still look quite undervalued even using longer term oil prices in the $65-70 dollar range. Meanwhile, if times are good over the next couple of years, we expect these companies to return significant percentages of their market caps to shareholders.”