Altria (MO) Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market: Important Facts to Note

Altria (MO) closed the most recent trading day at $66.34, moving -1.19% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.08% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.61%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.08%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had gained 4.25% outpaced the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 3.4% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.16%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Altria in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Altria to post earnings of $1.25 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 1.63%. 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.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $5.61 per share and a revenue of $20.17 billion, demonstrating changes of +3.51% and +0.15%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.13% higher within the past month. Altria presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Altria is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 11.97. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.49, which means Altria is trading at a discount to the group.

Meanwhile, MO's PEG ratio is currently 2.87. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Tobacco industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.97.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 204, this industry ranks in the bottom 17% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the 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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Altria Group, Inc. (MO): Free Stock Analysis Report

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