In the latest trading session, Altria (MO) closed at $58.54, marking a +1.76% move from the previous day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.16%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.17%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.26%.
Shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker witnessed a loss of 2.08% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Consumer Staples sector with its gain of 1.13%, and the S&P 500's gain of 1.89%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Altria in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.3, signifying a 0.78% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5 billion, down 2.04% from the year-ago period.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $5.44 per share and a revenue of $20.08 billion, signifying shifts of +6.25% and 0%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. At present, Altria boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Altria has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.34 right now. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 11.5.
One should further note that MO currently holds a PEG ratio of 3.19. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. Tobacco stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.87 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 226, finds itself in the bottom 8% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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Altria Group, Inc. (MO): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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