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Big Movers on the Energy Sector Today, Including SNP
The market is having a good day so far: the Nasdaq is trading up 1%; the S&P 500 has climbed 0.5%; and the Dow has increased 0.6%. The energy sector is the category of stocks that relate to producing or supplying energy. This sector includes companies involved in the exploration and development of oil or gas reserves, oil and gas drilling, or integrated power firms. Performance in the sector is largely driven by the supply and demand for worldwide energy. Energy producers will do very well during times of high oil and gas prices, but will earn less when the value of energy drops. Furthermore, this sector is sensitive to political events, which historically have driven changes in the price of oil.
The Energy sector (XLE) is up 0.5%, underperforming the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector are currently:
Broker Summary: E-Trade Financial
Apco Oil & Gas International (Nasdaq:APAGF) has fallen 4.3% and is currently trading at $18.55 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 9,712 shares. This is 0.4 times the average daily volume. If a stock is trading on low volume, then there is not much interest in the stock. On the other hand, if a stock is trading on high volume, then there is a lot of interest in the stock. Valuation ratios like the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield are useful in determining how attractive a potential or existing investment is. The capitalization ratio is calculated by dividing long-term debt by the sum of long-term debt and shareholders' equity. APAGF has a low capitalization ratio of 2.9%. A low capitalization ratio can signify a failure to leverage equity into investment, missing valuable opportunities for growth and expansion. This ratio is considered to be one of the more meaningful of the "debt" ratios - it delivers the key insight into the use of leverage by a company.
Approach Resources (Nasdaq:AREX) has increased to a share price of $28.08, a 3.7% rise. This morning, 147,933 shares have been traded, on pace to finish the day below yesterday's volume of 1.6 million shares. Volume is an important indicator in technical analysis as it is used to measure the worth of a market move. If the markets have made a strong price move either up or down the perceived strength of that move depends on the volume for that period. The higher the volume during that price move the more significant the move. In making a decision about a potential or existing investment, valuation ratios are useful as a basis for seeing whether the stock price is too high, reasonable, or a bargain. The price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio compares a company's P/E ratio to its earnings-per-share growth rate, which tells you whether or not you are getting a good value when purchasing a stock with a high price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio). PEG ratio for AREX is 5.42. Because of the adjustment for earnings growth rate, the PEG ratio is somewhat more useful than many formulas for comparing companies in different industries.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP) has risen 3.3% and is currently trading at $94.45 per share. The company is currently trading a volume of 50,123 shares. Price change alone is not enough to know how a stock is doing. Volume is an important secondary indicator used to confirm trends suggested by price movement. Valuation ratios include the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield. The price/book value ratio is calculated by dividing the current stock price by the company's book value per share. SNP has a P/B ratio of 1.09 which shows that its share price is higher than its book value. This may be a sign that the company is overvalued. One problem with the P/B value ratio is that it can be difficult to calculate the true book value of a company, so investors should be aware that many measures of book value may provide only a rough estimate, and should be taken with a grain of salt. SEE: Using The Price-To-Book Ratio To Evaluate Companies
World Fuel (NYSE:INT) has risen 2.9% and is currently trading at $35.60 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 181,639 shares, 0.3 times the average volume over the last three months. High volume indicates a lot of investor interest while low volume indicates the opposite. While investment valuation ratios are useful tools in estimating the attractiveness of an investment, remember that it is important to look at a company's historical performance and compare the company ratios with its competitors and industry overall. The dividend yield is measured by taking the annual dividends per share and dividing that number by the stock price. INT's dividend yield of 0.4% is fairly low. If you are an income investor, this stock may not be attractive to you. A higher dividend yield may indicate a risk of a fall in the price of the security, or a cut in the level of dividend payments, either of which would have the effect of dropping future returns. SEE: Investment Valuation Ratios: Dividend Yield
HollyFrontier (NYSE:HFC) is currently trading at $39.49 per share, a 2.8% increase. So far today, the company's volume is 1.2 million shares. This is 0.4 times its average daily volume. Volume is used to evaluate how meaningful the price movement of a stock is. When estimating the value of a particular investment, valuation ratios provide a good basis for assessing the value of an individual stock. The price/sales ratio is used for spotting recovery situations or for double-checking that a company's growth has not become overvalued. HFC's P/S ratio of 0.37 is fairly low. Highly levered companies are likely to have lower P/S ratios because the price aspect of this ratio only measures stock market valuation while sales is a function of both stock market and bond market capitalization. A limitation of the P/S ratio is that the price component measures only stock market captialization, while sales are a function of the entire capital structure, potentially leading to wide differences between levered and unlevered companies.
Rising 2.5%, Lufkin Industries (Nasdaq:LUFK) is currently trading at $48.24 per share. So far today, 147,390 shares have changed hands, while it was 627,891 shares yesterday. If a stock price makes a big move up or down, volume lets us know the significance of that move. Investment valuation ratios provide investors with an estimation, albeit a simplistic one, of the value of a stock. The debt ratio shows the proportion of assets that a company is financing through debt. LUFK has a low debt ratio of 44.6%. In other words, the company is less sensitive to changes in business or interest rates since less of its cash flow is dedicated to paying off loan expenses. However, one thing to note with this ratio: it isn't a pure measure of a company's debt (or indebtedness), as it also includes operational liabilities, such as accounts payable and taxes payable.
Holly Energy Partners (NYSE:HEP) is at $66.63 per share after an increase of 2.3%. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 40,312 shares. If a stock price moves on high volume, this means that the change is a significant one. A wide array of ratios can be used by investors to estimate the attractiveness of a potential or existing investment and get an idea of its valuation. To a large degree, the debt-equity (D/E) ratio provides another vantage point on a company's leverage position, in this case, comparing total liabilities to shareholders' equity, as opposed to total assets in the debt ratio. The D/E ratio for HEP is 194%. Companies in capital-intensive industries usually have higher D/E ratios because they need to buy more property, plants, and equipment to operate. The D/E ratio is not a pure measurement of a company's debt because it includes operational liabilities in total liabilities.
The Bottom Line No matter the economic climate, Wall Street will always have stocks that make major moves each week. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.
The Energy sector (XLE) is up 0.5%, underperforming the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector are currently:
| Company | Market Cap | Percentage Change |
| Apco Oil & Gas International Inc. (Nasdaq:APAGF) | $570.9 million | -4.3% |
| Approach Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:AREX) | $907.2 million | +3.7% |
| China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (ADR) (NYSE:SNP) | $79.28 billion | +3.3% |
| World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT) | $2.49 billion | +2.9% |
| HollyFrontier Corp (NYSE:HFC) | $7.94 billion | +2.8% |
| Lufkin Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:LUFK) | $1.58 billion | +2.5% |
| Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:HEP) | $1.85 billion | +2.3% |
Apco Oil & Gas International (Nasdaq:APAGF) has fallen 4.3% and is currently trading at $18.55 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 9,712 shares. This is 0.4 times the average daily volume. If a stock is trading on low volume, then there is not much interest in the stock. On the other hand, if a stock is trading on high volume, then there is a lot of interest in the stock. Valuation ratios like the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield are useful in determining how attractive a potential or existing investment is. The capitalization ratio is calculated by dividing long-term debt by the sum of long-term debt and shareholders' equity. APAGF has a low capitalization ratio of 2.9%. A low capitalization ratio can signify a failure to leverage equity into investment, missing valuable opportunities for growth and expansion. This ratio is considered to be one of the more meaningful of the "debt" ratios - it delivers the key insight into the use of leverage by a company.
Approach Resources (Nasdaq:AREX) has increased to a share price of $28.08, a 3.7% rise. This morning, 147,933 shares have been traded, on pace to finish the day below yesterday's volume of 1.6 million shares. Volume is an important indicator in technical analysis as it is used to measure the worth of a market move. If the markets have made a strong price move either up or down the perceived strength of that move depends on the volume for that period. The higher the volume during that price move the more significant the move. In making a decision about a potential or existing investment, valuation ratios are useful as a basis for seeing whether the stock price is too high, reasonable, or a bargain. The price/earnings to growth (PEG) ratio compares a company's P/E ratio to its earnings-per-share growth rate, which tells you whether or not you are getting a good value when purchasing a stock with a high price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio). PEG ratio for AREX is 5.42. Because of the adjustment for earnings growth rate, the PEG ratio is somewhat more useful than many formulas for comparing companies in different industries.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (NYSE:SNP) has risen 3.3% and is currently trading at $94.45 per share. The company is currently trading a volume of 50,123 shares. Price change alone is not enough to know how a stock is doing. Volume is an important secondary indicator used to confirm trends suggested by price movement. Valuation ratios include the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield. The price/book value ratio is calculated by dividing the current stock price by the company's book value per share. SNP has a P/B ratio of 1.09 which shows that its share price is higher than its book value. This may be a sign that the company is overvalued. One problem with the P/B value ratio is that it can be difficult to calculate the true book value of a company, so investors should be aware that many measures of book value may provide only a rough estimate, and should be taken with a grain of salt. SEE: Using The Price-To-Book Ratio To Evaluate Companies
HollyFrontier (NYSE:HFC) is currently trading at $39.49 per share, a 2.8% increase. So far today, the company's volume is 1.2 million shares. This is 0.4 times its average daily volume. Volume is used to evaluate how meaningful the price movement of a stock is. When estimating the value of a particular investment, valuation ratios provide a good basis for assessing the value of an individual stock. The price/sales ratio is used for spotting recovery situations or for double-checking that a company's growth has not become overvalued. HFC's P/S ratio of 0.37 is fairly low. Highly levered companies are likely to have lower P/S ratios because the price aspect of this ratio only measures stock market valuation while sales is a function of both stock market and bond market capitalization. A limitation of the P/S ratio is that the price component measures only stock market captialization, while sales are a function of the entire capital structure, potentially leading to wide differences between levered and unlevered companies.
Rising 2.5%, Lufkin Industries (Nasdaq:LUFK) is currently trading at $48.24 per share. So far today, 147,390 shares have changed hands, while it was 627,891 shares yesterday. If a stock price makes a big move up or down, volume lets us know the significance of that move. Investment valuation ratios provide investors with an estimation, albeit a simplistic one, of the value of a stock. The debt ratio shows the proportion of assets that a company is financing through debt. LUFK has a low debt ratio of 44.6%. In other words, the company is less sensitive to changes in business or interest rates since less of its cash flow is dedicated to paying off loan expenses. However, one thing to note with this ratio: it isn't a pure measure of a company's debt (or indebtedness), as it also includes operational liabilities, such as accounts payable and taxes payable.
Holly Energy Partners (NYSE:HEP) is at $66.63 per share after an increase of 2.3%. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 40,312 shares. If a stock price moves on high volume, this means that the change is a significant one. A wide array of ratios can be used by investors to estimate the attractiveness of a potential or existing investment and get an idea of its valuation. To a large degree, the debt-equity (D/E) ratio provides another vantage point on a company's leverage position, in this case, comparing total liabilities to shareholders' equity, as opposed to total assets in the debt ratio. The D/E ratio for HEP is 194%. Companies in capital-intensive industries usually have higher D/E ratios because they need to buy more property, plants, and equipment to operate. The D/E ratio is not a pure measurement of a company's debt because it includes operational liabilities in total liabilities.
The Bottom Line No matter the economic climate, Wall Street will always have stocks that make major moves each week. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.
by
Investopedia Staff
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