With a $10.73 billion market cap, APA Corporation (APA) explores, develops, and produces oil and gas properties. The company operates in the United States, Egypt, and…
the United Kingdom. It operates gathering, processing, and transmission assets in West Texas and owns four Permian-to-Gulf Coast pipelines.
The company’s diversified, unhedged portfolio primarily benefited from high prices across all three product streams. And this has helped APA to manage its spending categories, such as capital investment, operating costs, and general & administrative, well despite supply chain disruptions and overall cost environment. Also, during the second quarter, the company reported a production of 385,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day.
On August 23, APA announced the first discovery at Baja-1 in Block 53 offshore Suriname. Baja-1 was drilled to a depth of 5,290 meters and encountered 34 meters of net oil pay in a single interval with the Campanian.
“Our success at Baja marks the 6th oil discovery we have participated in offshore Suriname and the first on Block 53. This result confirms our geologic model for the Campanian in the area and helps to de-risk other prospects in the southern portion of Blocks 53 and 58,” said John J. Christmann, APA’s CEO and President.
In the same month, the company announced that it bought West Texas oil-producing land for $505 million during the second quarter, strengthening its position in the Delaware portion of the Permian shale basin. The assets acquired by the company are expected to add production of between 12,000 to 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE) through the rest of this year.
Furthermore, APA’s Board of Directors recently announced an increase in the company’s dividend from an annualized rate of 50 cents per share to $1 per share. The next quarterly dividend of 25 cents is payable on November 22. In addition, the Broad of Directors authorized the repurchase of an additional 40 million shares.
“Over the last year, we’ve significantly strengthened our balance sheet and committed to returning a minimum of 60% of free cash flow to our shareholders through dividend and stock repurchases. Most of this return is still being delivered through stock repurchases; however, we are confident that our long-term cash flow will comfortably support this step-up in the base dividend payment,” said John J. Christmann.
APA has gained 17.1% year-to-date and 52.6% over the past year to close the last trading session at $32.87.
TOP 10 STOCKS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD
Here is what could influence APA’s performance in the upcoming months:
Solid Financials
In the fiscal 2022 second quarter ended June 30, APA’s total revenue increased 73.5% year-over-year to $3.05 billion. The company’s adjusted EBITDAX amounted to $1.96 billion, up 93.6% year-over-year. Its net income attributable to common stock grew 193% from the prior-year period to $926 million.
Furthermore, the company’s net income per common share came in at $2.71, registering an increase of 230.5% year-over-year. Cash inflows from operating activities rose 58.4% from the year-ago value to $1.54 billion. Also, free cash flow improved 100.5% year-over-year to $814 million.
Favorable Analyst Estimates
Analysts expect APA’s revenue for the fiscal 2022 third quarter (ending September 2022) to come in at $2.57 billion, indicating an increase of 55.5% from the prior-year period. The consensus EPS estimate for the current quarter is expected to…
Continue reading at STOCKNEWS.com
