Yahoo Finance Why Marathon Petroleum (MPC) Outpaced the Stock Market Today
The most recent trading session ended with Marathon Petroleum (MPC) standing at $170.51, reflecting a +1.04% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.23%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.17%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.34%.
Heading into today, shares of the refiner had lost 2.25% over the past month, outpacing the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 4.97% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 3.96% in that time.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Marathon Petroleum in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on August 6, 2024. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $6.25, reflecting a 17.48% increase from the same quarter last year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $31.85 billion, indicating a 13.52% downward movement from the same quarter last year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $19.28 per share and a revenue of $129.28 billion, indicating changes of -18.41% and -13.99%, respectively, from the former year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Marathon Petroleum should also be noted by investors. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.89% lower. Marathon Petroleum currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Marathon Petroleum has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.75 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.19, so one might conclude that Marathon Petroleum is trading at a discount comparatively.
We can additionally observe that MPC currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.46. 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 1.74 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 93, finds itself in the top 37% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
