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

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In the latest trading session, APA (APA - Free Report) closed at $34.17, marking a +0.74% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.23%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.84%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 2.24%.

Coming into today, shares of the oil and natural gas producer had gained 5.87% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector gained 3.61%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.67%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from APA as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.87, down 63.29% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.92 billion, down 36.94% from the year-ago period.

APA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.50 per share and revenue of $8.37 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -41.41% and -23.68%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for APA. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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, 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 4.56% lower within the past month. APA currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note APA's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 7.54. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 7.53, which means APA is trading at a premium to the group.

It is also worth noting that APA currently has a PEG ratio of 6.34. 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. The Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.38 at yesterday's closing price.

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 221, putting it in the bottom 13% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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