5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Apache

Recs

8

Disney Buys Marvel!

...And David Gardner called it. He's up 1,334%! See what David's recommending that you buy NEXT!

Click here now to find out!

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 115,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil and gas producer Apache (NYSE: APA) has earned a coveted five-star ranking. Our data has shown that five-star stocks outperform the market by a significant margin; conversely, one-star stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Apache's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Apache facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Houston, Texas (1954)

Market Cap

$35.65 billion

Industry

Independent oil and gas

TTM Revenue

$12.58 billion

Management

CEO G. Steven Farris (since 2002)
CFO Roger Plank (since 2000)

Return on Equity (average last three years)

24%

Competitors

Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC)
EnCana (NYSE: ECA)

CAPS members bullish on APA also bullish on

Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK)
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX)

CAPS members bearish on APA also bearish on

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM)
Chevron (NYSE: CVX)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, fully 329 of the 344 All-Star members who have rated Apache -- some 96% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These All-Star bulls include GS751 and TheGarcipian, both of whom are ranked in the top 10% of our community.

In April, GS751 reminded our community:

About 70% of Apache's reserves are in North America. This eliminates political risk. NA reserves are usually older and harder to get but apache is a low cost producer which is nice. ... If Oil stays above $90 a barrel [Apache] should do well.

In a more recent pitch, from June, TheGarcipian shared that bullish sentiment, pointing out some of the stock's bargain-like ratios (which happen to be even cheaper today):

An oil-n-gas sector play, this stock should be a winner for some time to come. Given the present investing climate of rising oil prices and seemingly insatiable demand for oil, I think this stock, with its very fair PEG ratio of 1.09 and an incredibly low EnterpriseValue-to-EBITDA ratio of only 6, is a bargain right now....

What do you think about Apache, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 115,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.

Closed for 15 months – opening 10 days only! Get notified ahead of time as our expert portfolio manager invests $1 MILLION in the best opportunities from across The Motley Fool’s premium investment services. This is the first open since August 2008, by invitation only. Enter email below.

For three energy stocks Motley Fool analysts believe will profit from “The Next American Oil Boom,” check out our brand-new free report. You'll get three stock ideas from top analysts, plus some straight talk on our oil "crisis." Click here for access -- it’s free!

Foolish contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Chesapeake Energy is a Motley Fool Inside Value recommendation. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Compare Brokers

TD AMERITRADE
more info
ShareBuilder
more info
Power E*Trade

more info
Scottrade
more info
Fool Disclosure

DocumentId: 731020, ~/Articles/ArticleHandler.aspx, 11/10/2009 10:11:34 AM

Report This Comment

Use this area to report a comment that you believe is in violation of the community guidelines. Our team will review the entry and take any appropriate action.

Sending report...

The Must-Read Story on Fool.com
Health-Care Reform: A Tale of Two Chambers

Related Tickers

11/9/2009 4:01 PM
FCX $83.20 Down +0.00 +0.00%
Freeport-McMoRan C… CAPS Rating: ****
APA $100.82 Down +0.00 +0.00%
Apache Corp CAPS Rating: ****
CVX $77.66 Down +0.00 +0.00%
Chevron Corp CAPS Rating: ****
XOM $72.89 Up +0.04 +0.06%
ExxonMobil Corp CAPS Rating: ****
ECA $59.40 Down +0.00 +0.00%
EnCana Corp (USA) CAPS Rating: ****
CHK $25.19 Down -0.07 -0.28%
Chesapeake Energy… CAPS Rating: *****
APC $65.69 Down +0.00 +0.00%
Anadarko Petroleum… CAPS Rating: ****

Community: Investing Wiki

Term Of The Hour

Defined-benefit plan: A defined-benefit plan is a retirement arrangement in which an eligible retired employee receives specified payouts from his former employer throughout retirement. The employer is responsible for managing the money to be able to make these pension payments, so the payouts can be reduced or eliminated if circumstances warrant.

Want to learn more or edit this definition?
Click here to read more!