The most loved stocks on Wall Street

Published Fri, Jul 31 20159:41 AM EDTUpdated Fri, Jul 31 201511:58 AM EDT

Despite muted returns for the S & P 500 in 2015, analysts on Wall Street just love a select group of stocks they believe will provide outsized returns. Among a sample of 11,879 analysts' ratings, of which 49 percent have a buy recommendation, Bespoke Investment Group conducted a review of the most-loved companies and sectors on the Street. That list was then filtered based on fundamental, sentiment and technical measures. At the company level, Allergan leads the way, with shares of the drugmaker fetching 91 percent of buy recommendations from Wall Street and exhibiting some of the most positive momentum on multiple metrics. "With Allergan in the process of becoming exclusively a brand-focused pharma company, along with stated intentions to further bolster its brand presence with a cash position of around $36B to work with, it is only logical to conclude that a major acquisition is in the cards down the road," Piper Jaffray analyst David Amsellem wrote in a note to clients this week. Another catalyst for the Botox maker could be a potential breakup of the company into two businesses, as reported by Reuters last week . Year to date, shares of AGN are up 28 percent compared with a 2 percent return for the S & P 500. According to the consensus price target, analysts on the Street expect AGN to rise 10 percent from here to $363, data from FactSet show. Other most-loved stocks include UnitedHealth , Lam Research , Thermo Fisher Scientific , HCA Holdings and Gilead Sciences . As the chart above shows, United Health received 83 percent of buy recommendations. "We continue to believe UNH is an attractive, stable MCO [managed care organization] stock to own now and in the future," said Stifel Nicolaus' analyst Thomas Carroll. Read More Street: Buy steady stocks for a skittish market On July 16 when UnitedHealth reported positive earnings growth and upped its guidance, the analyst boosted his 12-month price target for the stock to $148, predicting a 23 percent gain. The consensus target price from the Street also calls for a 20 percent move higher to $145, according to FactSet. So far this year, shares of UNH are up 19 percent, hovering around an all-time high of $126 reached this month. One more name that made the list is Marathon Petroleum , whose shares rallied 19 percent this year despite a 50 percent pullback in oil prices in the past 12 months. "Marathon is the best refiner out there," said Jim Lebenthal, chief investment officer of Lebenthal Asset Management, who recently made the stock one of his top picks for CNBC Pro's model portfolio . Lebenthal believes " Marathon Petroleum is agnostic to oil prices ," possesses the best plants, has a solid retail business and has done a lot of work to unlock shareholder value through a master limited partnership. Analysts on the Street have an overweight rating on the stock with a 12 month price target of $66, implying a 24 percent gain from here, according to FactSet. Among specific sectors, health care ranks the highest, with 58 percent of buy ratings, followed by technology and consumer discretionary stocks at 51 percent, according to Bespoke. All three groups are the best performing in the S & P 500 this year, up more than 3 percent. On the contrary, consumer staples and utilities have the lowest percentage of ratings at around 40 percent.

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Lucas Jackson | Reuters

Despite muted returns for the S&P 500 in 2015, analysts on Wall Street just love a select group of stocks they believe will provide outsized returns.

Among a sample of 11,879 analysts' ratings, of which 49 percent have a buy recommendation, Bespoke Investment Group conducted a review of the most-loved companies and sectors on the Street. That list was then filtered based on fundamental, sentiment and technical measures.

At the company level, Allergan leads the way, with shares of the drugmaker fetching 91 percent of buy recommendations from Wall Street and exhibiting some of the most positive momentum on multiple metrics.