According to FactSet, we are more than halfway through earnings season. About 59% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported results for the second quarter. Results are better than expected.

How much better, you ask?

Of those companies that have reported, the vast majority (88%) have reported earnings per share (EPS) that beat analysts’ expectations. In a typical quarter, about 75% of earnings reports are better than expected.

And we’re not talking about outperforming expectations by just a little bit. Companies are reporting EPS that are an average of 17.2% above estimates, which is well above the five-year average of 7.8%.

Companies are also reporting better-than-expected gains in revenue. Again, 88% of companies that have reported have beaten expectations for revenue. Over the past five years, only 65% of companies normally beat revenue expectations.

On average, sales have been 4.5% higher than estimates, more than triple the five-year average revenue beat of 1.2%.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2021: Nielsen N.V.(NLSN)

We are a leading global performance management company. The company provides to clients a comprehensive understanding of what consumers watch and what they buy and how those choices intersect. We deliver critical media and marketing information, analytics and manufacturer and retailer expertise about what and where consumers buy (referred to herein as “Buy”) and what consumers read, watch and listen to (consumer interaction across the television, radio, online and mobile viewing and listening platforms referred to herein as “Watch”) on a local and global basis. Our information, insights and solutions help our clients maintain and strengthen their market positions and identify opportunities for profitable growth. We have a presence in more than 100 countries and our services cover more than 90 percent of the globe’s GDP and population.   Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Motley Fool Transcribers]

  Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE:NLSN)Q42018 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 28, 2019, 8:00 a.m. ET

  Contents:
  Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants
  Prepared Remarks:

  Operator

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Shares of Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE:NLSN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $28.00.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE:NLSN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.77.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Nielsen (NYSE:NLSN) was upgraded by equities researchers at Macquarie from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $34.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. Macquarie’s price target points to a potential upside of 30.02% from the company’s current price.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2021: Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc.(PCL)

Pancontinental Oil & Gas NL is an Australia-based oil and gas exploration company. The Company conducts its operations in Kenya and Namibia. The Company holds an exploration license L6, in Lamu Basin, Kenya. Block L6 covers an area of approximately 5,010 square kilometers. The Company holds an exploration license EL 0037, which is located in Walvis Basin, Namibia. The Company’s EL 0037 covers an area of approximately 17,295 square kilometers (approximately 4,273,687 acres) over three blocks. EL 0037 includes around 8.7 billion barrels of oil and around 11 primary leads. The Company’s subsidiaries include Euro Pacific Energy Pty Ltd, Pancontinental Namibia Pty Ltd, Afrex Ltd and Starstrike Resources Ltd. Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By ]

  Peculium (PCL) is a coin. Peculium’s total supply is 2,206,029,269 coins and its circulating supply is 2,090,325,377 coins. The official message board for Peculium is medium.com/@Peculium. The Reddit community for Peculium is /r/Peculium and the currency’s Github account can be viewed here. Peculium’s official Twitter account is @_Peculium and its Facebook page is accessible here. Peculium’s official website is peculium.io.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Media stories about Plum Creek Timber (NYSE:PCL) have trended somewhat positive this week, Accern Sentiment reports. Accern identifies negative and positive news coverage by analyzing more than twenty million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Plum Creek Timber earned a media sentiment score of 0.15 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news coverage about the industrial goods maker an impact score of 46.0048348022167 out of 100, indicating that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near future.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Press coverage about Plum Creek Timber (NYSE:PCL) has trended positive on Tuesday, Accern Sentiment reports. Accern ranks the sentiment of press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Plum Creek Timber earned a daily sentiment score of 0.37 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media stories about the industrial goods maker an impact score of 45.0964567289057 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the stock’s share price in the near term.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2021: Jagged Peak Energy Inc. (JAG)

Jagged Peak Energy Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition and development of unconventional oil and associated liquids-rich natural gas reserves in the Southern Delaware Basin. The Company’s acreage is located on contiguous blocks in the adjacent counties of Winkler, Ward, Reeves and Pecos, with original oil-in-place within multiple stacked hydrocarbon-bearing formations. As of September 30, 2016, it drilled and completed 16 horizontal wells. As of September 30, 2016, it held approximately 90% working interest in approximately 68,121 gross leased or acquired acres. It classifies its acreage position into three project areas: Whiskey River, Cochise and Big Tex. As of September 30, 2016, it drilled and completed eight operated wells in the Whiskey River project area targeting the Lower Wolfcamp A, Upper Wolfcamp A and Wolfcamp B. As of September 30, 2016, it also drilled and completed six operated wells in the Cochise project area.
Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Jagged Peak Energy Inc (NYSE:JAG) CFO Robert William Howard sold 31,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.19, for a total transaction of $412,187.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 2,042,923 shares in the company, valued at $26,946,154.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Jagged Peak Energy (JAG)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Max Byerly]

  ValuEngine cut shares of Jagged Peak Energy (NYSE:JAG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

  A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on JAG. BMO Capital Markets set a $16.00 price objective on Jagged Peak Energy and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Sunday, August 12th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on Jagged Peak Energy from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $13.00 price objective on Jagged Peak Energy and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Jagged Peak Energy from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Jagged Peak Energy from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $16.17.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Jagged Peak Energy (JAG)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2021: Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc.(OMEX)

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. provides shipwreck exploration services for use in insurance investigations, and search and recovery operations to governments and deep-ocean mineral exploration companies. The company?s shipwreck projects consist of various activities, including research and development, and search operations; archaeological excavation and recovery operations; and conservation, recording, and documentation. It also sells shipwreck findings, including coins and other mass-produced cargo, cultural collections, and replicas to collectors, museums, and other institutions. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ: OMEX) and Teekay Offshore Partners (NYSE:TOO) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Kenon (NYSE: KEN) and Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ:OMEX) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  News stories about Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ:OMEX) have trended somewhat positive recently, according to Accern. The research firm identifies positive and negative news coverage by reviewing more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Odyssey Marine Exploration earned a media sentiment score of 0.01 on Accern’s scale. Accern also assigned media coverage about the business services provider an impact score of 46.3184749361846 out of 100, indicating that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the next several days.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2021: Marathon Petroleum Corporation(MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, incorporated on November 9, 2009, is engaged in petroleum product refining, marketing, retail and transportation businesses in the United States and the east of the Mississippi. The Company’s segments include Refining & Marketing, Speedway, and Midstream. Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions of the United States, purchases ethanol and refined products for resale and distributes refined products, through various means, including barges, terminals and trucks that it owns or operates. It sells refined products to wholesale marketing customers domestically and internationally, buyers on the spot market, its Speedway business segment and to independent entrepreneurs operating Marathon retail outlets.

The Company has approximately 5,400 miles of crude oil and products pipelines that its owns, leases or which it has an ownership interest; ownership interest in Southern Access Extension (SAX) pipeline; approximately 20 owned or leased inland towboats and over 220 owned or leased inland barges, and ownership interest in a blue water joint venture with Crowley Maritime Corporation. The Company has approximately 60 owned and operated light product terminals with approximately 20 million barrels of storage capacity and over 190 loading lanes; over 20 owned and operated asphalt terminals with approximately four million barrels of storage capacity and over 70 loading lanes; a leased and two non-operated, partially-owned light product terminals; over 2,210 owned or leased railcars; over 60 million barrels of tank and cavern storage capacity at its refineries; over 30 rail and 30 truck loading racks at its refineries; over seven owned and 11 non-owned docks at its refineries; condensate splitters at its Canton and Catlettsburg refineries, and approximately 20 billion gallons of fuels distribution.

Refining & Marketing

The Company owns and operates approximately ! seven refineries in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions of the United States with an aggregate crude oil refining capacity of 1,794 million barrels per calender day (mbpcd). The Company’s refineries process approximately 1,710 mbpd of crude oil and 180 mbpd of other charge and blendstocks. Its refineries include crude oil atmospheric and vacuum distillation, fluid catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, catalytic reforming, coking, desulfurization and sulfur recovery units. The refineries process a range of condensate, light and heavy crude oils purchased from various domestic and foreign suppliers. It produces a range of refined products, ranging from transportation fuels, such as reformulated gasolines, blend-grade gasolines intended for blending with ethanol and ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel, to heavy fuel oil and asphalt. Additionally, it manufactures aromatics, propane, propylene and sulfur. Its Garyville, Louisiana refinery is located along the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The Garyville refinery is configured to process a range of crude oils into gasoline, distillates, fuel-grade coke, asphalt, polymer-grade propylene, propane, slurry, sulfur and dry gas.

The Company’s Galveston Bay refinery is located on the Texas Gulf Coast approximately 30 miles southeast of Houston, Texas. The refinery can process a range of crude oils into gasoline, distillates, aromatics, heavy fuel oil, fuel-grade coke, refinery-grade propylene, sulfur and dry gas. Its Catlettsburg, Kentucky refinery is located in northeastern Kentucky on the western bank of the Big Sandy River, near the confluence with the Ohio River. The Catlettsburg refinery processes sweet and sour crude oils into gasoline, distillates, asphalt, aromatics, refinery-grade propylene and propane. Its Robinson, Illinois refinery is located in southeastern Illinois. The Robinson refinery processes sweet and sour crude oils into gasoline, distillates, propane, anode-grade coke, aromatics and slu! rry. Its ! Detroit, Michigan refinery is located in southwest Detroit. The Detroit refinery processes sweet and heavy sour crude oils into gasoline, distillates, asphalt, fuel-grade coke, chemical-grade propylene, propane, slurry and sulfur. Its Canton, Ohio refinery is located approximately 60 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The Canton refinery processes sweet and sour crude oils, including production from the nearby Utica Shale, into gasoline, distillates, asphalt, roofing flux, refinery-grade propylene, propane and slurry. Its Texas City, Texas refinery is located on the Texas Gulf Coast adjacent to its Galveston Bay refinery, approximately 30 miles southeast of Houston, Texas. The refinery processes light sweet crude oils into gasoline, chemical-grade propylene, propane, aromatics, slurry and dry gas.

The Company owns a biofuel production facility in Cincinnati, Ohio that produces biodiesel, glycerin and other by-products. The capacity of the plant is approximately 60 million gallons per year. The Company holds interests in ethanol production facilities in Albion, Michigan; Clymers, Indiana and Greenville, Ohio. The Company sells gasoline, gasoline blendstocks and distillates, including No. 1 and No. 2 fuel oils, jet fuel, kerosene and diesel fuel to wholesale customers, Marathon-branded independent entrepreneurs and its Speedway convenience stores and on the spot market. In addition, it sells diesel fuel and gasoline for export to international customers. It produces propane at its refineries. Propane is primarily used for home heating and cooking, as a feedstock within the petrochemical industry, for grain drying and as a fuel for trucks and other vehicles. It is a producer and marketer of feedstocks and specialty products. It produces and markets heavy residual fuel oil or related components, including slurry, at its refineries. It has refinery-based asphalt production capacity of approximately 100 mbpcd, which includes asphalt cements, polymer-modified asphalt, emulsified asphalt, industrial a! sphalts a! nd roofing flux. Its marine transportation operations includes approximately 20 owned and one leased towboat, as well as over 200 owned and 10 leased barges that transport refined products and crude oil on the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois rivers and their tributaries and inter-coastal waterways.

Speedway

The Company’s Speedway segment sells gasoline, diesel and merchandise through convenience stores that it owns and operates under the Speedway brand. The Speedway segment sells transportation fuels and convenience products in the retail market in the Midwest, East Coast and Southeast. The Speedway convenience stores offer a range of merchandise, including prepared foods, beverages and non-food items. The Speedway segment owns approximately 100 transport trucks and over 80 trailers for the movement of gasoline and distillate.

Midstream

The Company’s Midstream segment includes the operations of MPLX LP (MPLX) and certain other related operations. MPLX transports crude oil and other feedstocks to the Company’s refineries and other locations, delivers refined products to wholesale and retail market areas, gathers, processes and transports natural gas, and transports, fractionates, stores and markets natural gas liquids (NGLs). The Company owns, leases or has ownership interests in approximately 8,400 miles of crude oil and products pipelines, of which approximately 2,900 miles are owned through its investments in MPLX. Also through its investments in MPLX, it owns approximately 5,000 miles of gas gathering and NGL pipelines and has ownership interests in over 50 gas-processing plants, over 10 NGL fractionation facilities and a condensate stabilization facility.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Several factors drove the big uptick in cash flow last year. One of the biggest drivers was the acquisition of $8.1 billion of midstream assets from refining giant Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC). In addition to that, MPLX benefited from the purchase of an export terminal from a third party, as well as organic expansions of its pipelines and gathering and processing business. Those same growth drivers have helped steadily increase MPLX’s cash flow over the years, which has enabled it to consistently send more cash back to investors.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) is rated as Buy with a $95 price objective. This was said to be based on an assessed cash flow value of it its refining and retail segments by treating the assets as annuities after stripping out the maintenance capital plus the market value of interest in publicly traded midstream businesses. Shares of Marathon were trading down 0.5% at $64.66.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Piedmont Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,896 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,093 shares during the quarter. Piedmont Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $3,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.