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Marathon Petroleum (MPC) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Marathon Petroleum (MPC - Free Report) closed at $59.10 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.29% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.86%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.38%.

Coming into today, shares of the refiner had lost 10.62% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector lost 9.09%, while the S&P 500 lost 7.55%.

MPC will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 7, 2019. On that day, MPC is projected to report earnings of $1.14 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 8.57%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $33.19 billion, up 56.28% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.13 per share and revenue of $92.94 billion, which would represent changes of +35% and +23.32%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MPC. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.23% lower. MPC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, MPC is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 11.38. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 11.84, which means MPC is trading at a discount to the group.

We can also see that MPC currently has a PEG ratio of 0.71. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.95 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 108, which puts it in the top 42% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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