Why Marathon Petroleum, Synnex, and Cintas Jumped Today

Major benchmarks picked up ground on Wednesday, bouncing back from Tuesday's weakness. Market participants are still trying to figure out how to balance political controversy in Washington against economic prospects both in the U.S. and around the world. Today, investors seemed to focus more on the favorable conditions that currently prevail domestically. Some good news from individual companies also bolstered sentiment. Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC), Synnex (NYSE: SNX), and Cintas (NASDAQ: CTAS) were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well.

Shares of Marathon Petroleum rose more than 8% after activist investor Elliott Management followed up on calls it first made several years ago to take steps to enhance the energy company's shareholder value. Specifically, Elliott suggested that Marathon break itself into three separate components, with the new companies to focus on retail gas stations, refining operations, and midstream transportation and storage assets, respectively. The move is the second time that Elliott has targeted Marathon, but shareholders seem pleased at the prospect that the energy specialist might take bigger steps this time around than it did in 2016 -- especially given the stock's recent weakness.

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Source Fool.com