Lower debt will add to Apache’s appeal

Article Excerpt

APACHE CORP. $75 (New York symbol APA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 392.0 million; Market cap: $29.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apachecorp.com) spent $16 billion buying oil and gas properties in the past three years, which helped increase its long-term debt to $11.4 billion. It now plans to sell $2 billion of land to help pay down its debt. Thanks to these purchases, Apache’s average daily production rose 5.4% in 2012, to 779,000 barrels (51% oil and 49% gas). That pushed up its revenue by 1.1%, to a record $16.9 billion from $16.8 billion in 2011. However, higher depletion charges (the cost of replenishing its reserves) cut earnings by 19.0%, to $3.8 billion, or $9.48 a share. In 2011, it earned $4.7 billion, or $11.83 a share. The company’s production will likely rise 3% to 5% in 2013. The stock trades at just 8.0 times its forecast earnings of $9.39 a share…