It's been a hot summer for energy. The S & P 500 energy sector has outperformed its counterparts since Memorial Day, rallying more than 10% in that time. That gain helped energy recover most of its year-to-date losses. Through Friday's close, the sector is down just 0.9% for 2023. Energy's strong summer gains coincided with a 10.2% pop in West Texas Intermediate oil prices, as investors assessed the prospects of better-than-expected economic growth.
Analysts are also generally bullish on the stock's prospects going forward. FactSet data shows more than 55% of those covering Marathon Petroleum have a buy rating on it, with the average price target implying 7% upside. Shares are up 23.7% year to date. MPC YTD mountain MPC in 2023 SLB , Halliburton , APA , Baker Hughes , Targa Resourses and Williams Cos . are also key contributors to energy's summer outperformance, rallying more than 20% each.