In the latest close session, Altria (MO) was down 1.33% at $58.39. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.79% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.14%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.38%.
The stock of owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker has risen by 0.97% in the past month, lagging the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 2.5% and overreaching the S&P 500's gain of 0.87%.
The upcoming earnings release of Altria will be of great interest to investors. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.3, marking a 0.78% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.03 billion, down 1.48% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $5.44 per share and a revenue of $20.1 billion, demonstrating changes of +6.25% and -1.66%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Altria. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable 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. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. As of now, Altria holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Altria has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.88 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 12.56.
We can additionally observe that MO currently boasts a PEG ratio of 3.36. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Tobacco industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.91.
The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 34, finds itself in the top 14% 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.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
