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

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APA (APA - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $31.99, moving +1.3% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.92% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 2.15%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.16%.

Heading into today, shares of the oil and natural gas producer had lost 24.38% over the past month, lagging the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 15.44% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.54% in that time.

APA will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, APA is projected to report earnings of $2.74 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 291.43%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $2.65 billion, up 48.56% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $10.55 per share and revenue of $10.93 billion. These totals would mark changes of +170.51% and +39.73%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for APA should also be noted by investors. 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. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 3.56% lower. APA is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, APA is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 2.99. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 3.92.

We can also see that APA currently has a PEG ratio of 0.13. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.19 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 16, which puts it in the top 7% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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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