UPDATE 1-RESEARCH ALERT-Goldman raises US refiners to attractive

(Adds details)

Dec 14 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs said it raised its rating
on U.S. refiners to "attractive" from "neutral," following
additional underperformance of the group versus the energy
sector and S&P 500 .SPX index.

"Refining margins and refining equities we think look very
inexpensive currently versus crude oil prices and crude oil
leveraged energy equities," the brokerage said in a research
note.

Goldman also added Holly Corp HOC.N and CVR Energy Inc
(CVI.N) to its Americas buy list, saying it has favorable view
on the companies' Mid-Continent asset positioning, their
management team, and organic growth potential.

The two companies joined the existing "buy"-rated refiners
Sunoco Inc (SUN.N) and Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) as well as
the refining-leveraged integrated oil Marathon Oil Corp
(MRO.N), it said.

It also raised its price target on CVR to $31 from $27 and
maintained $63 price target on Holly.

The brokerage also removed Murphy Oil Corp (MUR.N) from the
list on the basis of a less favorable relative valuation.
(Reporting by Purwa Khandelwal in Bangalore; Editing by
Amitha Rajan, Anil D'Silva)