Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Altria (MO) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

Altria (MO - Free Report) closed at $47.13 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.68% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.61%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.42%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.17%.

Coming into today, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had gained 7.21% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector gained 4.81%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.89%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Altria as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.17, up 7.34% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.13 billion, up 0.83% from the year-ago period.

MO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.84 per share and revenue of $20.79 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.99% and -1.52%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Altria currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Altria's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 9.68. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 9.62, which means Altria is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that MO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.42. 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. MO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.98 as of yesterday's close.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 28, putting it in the top 12% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Altria Group, Inc. (MO) - free report >>

Published in