In the latest trading session, Marathon Petroleum (MPC) closed at $58.77, marking a -1.46% move from the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 2.48%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 2.83%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 3.04%.
Coming into today, shares of the refiner had lost 5.84% in the past month. In that same time, the Oils-Energy sector lost 8.19%, while the S&P 500 lost 8.82%.
MPC will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 7, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.14, up 8.57% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $33.19 billion, up 56.28% from the year-ago period.
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. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.14% lower. MPC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note MPC’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 8.43. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 9.34, which means MPC is trading at a discount to the group.
We can also see that MPC currently has a PEG ratio of 0.53. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. Oil and Gas – Refining and Marketing stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.79 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 111, which puts it in the top 43% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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