Altria (MO) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market: What Investors Need to Know

Altria (MO) ended the recent trading session at $65.13, demonstrating a -2.75% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 1.36% for the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.64%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.46%.

Shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker have appreciated by 0.65% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 5.57%, and the S&P 500's loss of 1.76%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Altria in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.25, signifying a 1.63% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $4.56 billion, indicating a 0.99% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

MO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.61 per share and revenue of $20.17 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +3.51% and +0.15%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.13% higher within the past month. As of now, Altria holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Altria is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 11.94. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 12.78, so one might conclude that Altria is trading at a discount comparatively.

It's also important to note that MO currently trades at a PEG ratio of 2.86. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. MO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.96 as of yesterday's close.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 186, this industry ranks in the bottom 25% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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