Wall Street Is Stubbornly Bullish on Downtrodden Energy Stocks

Wall Street analysts have high hopes for oil and gas stocks, encouraged by cheap valuations and President Donald Trump’s boosterism of the beleaguered energy sector.

Energy boasts the highest percentage of buy-rated equities among the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 Index: roughly three in four members have buy recommendations, compared with roughly half in the broader market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Plus, sell-side analysts see energy stocks rising about 16% over the next 12 months, second only to the health-care segment and roughly double the projected gain for the overall index.