Last year was another lackluster one for investors in the energy patch. The average energy stock in the S&P 500 rose only about 5% on the year, which vastly trailed the overall index's 28.9% surge. The energy sector's underperformance came even though the price of oil rebounded about 35% on the year.
That's left several of the sector's top companies trading at relatively attractive valuations, making them great buys right now. Leading the way are midstream giant Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET), top-tier upstream oil and gas producer EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG), and leading refiner Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC).
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