Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, natural gas and oil producer Apache (NYSE: APA) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

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 (1954)
Market Cap $32.7 billion
Industry Oil and gas exploration and production
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $17.3 billion
Management Chairman/CEO G. Steven Farris
President/COO Rodney Eichler
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 15.3%
Cash/Debt $245.0 million / $7.9 billion
Dividend Yield 0.8%
Competitors Anadarko Petroleum
BP
ExxonMobil

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 97% of the 2,109 members who have rated Apache believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those bulls, ennui, offered a balanced take on the opportunity:

Domestic oil production has been rising, and [Apache] is going to lead the charge. With oil currently well off its highs, and with all kinds of nasty things happening in the [M]iddle [E]ast, it is easy to imagine any number of scenarios that will make domestic oil producers much more valuable than currently. ...

The one worry I have about [Apache] -- about 25% of current production is in Egypt, which is in a transition period right now. Transition to what? Democracy. Sounds good -- but we will have to wait to see how that plays out.

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