Head-To-Head Review: APA (APA) & The Competition

APA (NASDAQ:APA) is one of 1,051 public companies in the “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare APA to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares APA and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
APA	23.08%	28.34%	12.04%
APA Competitors	-455.74%	19.71%	6.77%

Dividends

APA pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. APA pays out 16.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.1% and pay out -135.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. APA lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

83.0% of APA shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.7% of shares of all “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of APA shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.5% of shares of all “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

APA has a beta of 0.29, meaning that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, APA’s rivals have a beta of -3.76, meaning that their average share price is 476% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares APA and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
APA	$9.46 billion	$1.43 billion	7.32
APA Competitors	$14.85 billion	$5.51 billion	-1.08

APA’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than APA. APA is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for APA and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
APA	4	15	11	1	2.29
APA Competitors	5992	27027	40901	2431	2.52

APA currently has a consensus price target of $45.14, indicating a potential upside of 0.04%. As a group, “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies have a potential upside of 28.11%. Given APA’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe APA has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Summary

APA rivals beat APA on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation is an independent energy company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include operating wells and related infrastructure, as well as evaluating and developing oil and natural gas resources. The company’s principal operating areas include the United States and Egypt. APA also has offshore exploration interests in Suriname, where it has worked with partners to assess resources in the region. APA traces its history to Apache Corporation, founded in 1954.