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APA (APA) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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APA (APA - Free Report) closed at $45.91 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.62% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.75% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.05%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 7.84%.

Coming into today, shares of the oil and natural gas producer had lost 3.56% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector lost 3.11%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.4%.

APA will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect APA to post earnings of $1.91 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 48.06%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.51 billion, up 9.38% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8.24 per share and revenue of $11.05 billion. These totals would mark changes of +111.28% and +41.25%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for APA. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.38% higher. APA currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that APA has a Forward P/E ratio of 5.49 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 5.

Meanwhile, APA's PEG ratio is currently 0.24. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.25 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 141, putting it in the bottom 45% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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