Strong earnings lead to dividend hike

Article Excerpt

APACHE CORP. $110 (New York symbol APA; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 384.0 million; Market cap: $42.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.apachecorp.com) saw its revenue rise 39.7% in 2011, to $16.9 billion from $12.1 billion in 2010, due to higher oil prices and a 13.8% production increase. Earnings jumped 46.6%, to $4.7 billion from $3.2 billion. Earnings per share rose 32.3%, to $11.83 from $8.94, on more shares outstanding. Apache also raised its dividend by 13.3%. The new annual rate of $0.68 yields 0.6%. Apache is a buy. buy…