For those looking to find strong Oils-Energy stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. CrossAmerica Partners (CAPL) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Oils-Energy sector should help us answer this question.

CrossAmerica Partners is a member of our Oils-Energy group, which includes 246 different companies and currently sits at #13 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.

The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. CrossAmerica Partners is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAPL's full-year earnings has moved 72.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, CAPL has gained about 4.7% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Oils-Energy sector has returned an average of -7% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that CrossAmerica Partners is outperforming its peers so far this year.

Another stock in the Oils-Energy sector, National Fuel Gas (NFG), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 30.1%.

The consensus estimate for National Fuel Gas' current year EPS has increased 11.4% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Looking more specifically, CrossAmerica Partners belongs to the Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing - Master Limited Partnerships industry, which includes 6 individual stocks and currently sits at #53 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 0.7% so far this year, so CAPL is performing better in this area.

In contrast, National Fuel Gas falls under the Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States industry. Currently, this industry has 15 stocks and is ranked #76. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -8.6%.

Going forward, investors interested in Oils-Energy stocks should continue to pay close attention to CrossAmerica Partners and National Fuel Gas as they could maintain their solid performance.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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