APA (APA) ended the recent trading session at $24.47, demonstrating a -3.51% change from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.64%. At the same time, the Dow added 1.23%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.69%.
The oil and natural gas producer's stock has dropped by 6.42% in the past month, falling short of the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 1.8% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.55%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of APA in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.64, indicating a 18.99% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $2 billion, reflecting a 20.1% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $3.53 per share and a revenue of $8.89 billion, signifying shifts of -6.37% and 0%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for APA. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 5.22% lower. Right now, APA possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, APA is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.74. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 10.57.
We can also see that APA currently has a PEG ratio of 10.23. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry had an average PEG ratio of 3.
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 181, putting it in the bottom 27% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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APA Corporation (APA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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