Critical Contrast: APA Group (APAJF) versus Its Peers

APA Group (OTCMKTS:APAJF) is one of 46 public companies in the “Gas Utilities” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare APA Group to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

20.7% of APA Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.7% of shares of all “Gas Utilities” companies are held by institutional investors. 10.4% of shares of all “Gas Utilities” 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.

Dividends

APA Group pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. APA Group pays out 72.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Gas Utilities” companies pay a dividend yield of 12.0% and pay out 17.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. APA Group lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
APA Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
APA Group Competitors	20.21%	7.87%	3.65%

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
APA Group	N/A	N/A	17.54
APA Group Competitors	$2.96 billion	$316.42 million	35.97

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for APA Group and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
APA Group	0	1	0	0	2.00
APA Group Competitors	457	1369	1144	53	2.26

APA Group presently has a consensus target price of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 30.43%. As a group, “Gas Utilities” companies have a potential upside of 9.51%. Given APA Group’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe APA Group is more favorable than its rivals.

Summary

APA Group rivals beat APA Group on 12 of the 13 factors compared.

APA Group Company Profile

APA Group engages in the energy infrastructure business in Australia. The company operates through Energy Infrastructure, Asset Management, and Energy Investments segments. It operates gas transmission pipelines and interconnected grids, gas-fired power stations, electricity transmission interconnectors, solar and wind farms, and battery energy storage systems, as well as gas storage, processing, and compression facilities. The company also has interests in approximately 15,000 kilometers of gas transmission pipelines; approximately 29,500 kilometers of gas mains and pipelines; and 1.5 million gas consumer connections. It also provides asset management and operating services to its energy investments and third parties; and invests in energy infrastructure. The company is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.