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Is Murphy USA (MUSA) Stock Outpacing Its Oils-Energy Peers This Year?

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The Oils-Energy group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Is Murphy USA (MUSA - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Oils-Energy sector should help us answer this question.

Murphy USA is a member of our Oils-Energy group, which includes 249 different companies and currently sits at #16 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.

The Zacks Rank is a proven system that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions, highlighting a variety of stocks that are displaying the right characteristics to beat the market over the next one to three months. Murphy USA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MUSA's full-year earnings has moved 11.1% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock's earnings outlook is improving.

According to our latest data, MUSA has moved about 16.2% on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, the Oils-Energy sector has returned an average of 1.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Murphy USA is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Nextracker (NXT - Free Report) is another Oils-Energy stock that has outperformed the sector so far this year. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has returned 28.6%.

Over the past three months, Nextracker's consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 23.6%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Breaking things down more, Murphy USA is a member of the Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry, which includes 15 individual companies and currently sits at #97 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 0.9% so far this year, so MUSA is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

In contrast, Nextracker falls under the Solar industry. Currently, this industry has 18 stocks and is ranked #174. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -12.9%.

Going forward, investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should continue to pay close attention to Murphy USA and Nextracker as they could maintain their solid performance.


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