Altria (MO) Rises Higher Than Market: Key Facts
Altria (MO) ended the recent trading session at $43.66, demonstrating a +1.25% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.86%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 1.22%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.51%.
Shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker have appreciated by 5.43% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 1.07% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.84%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Altria in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on April 25, 2024. In that report, analysts expect Altria to post earnings of $1.15 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 2.54%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $4.73 billion, down 0.62% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.08 per share and revenue of $20.58 billion, which would represent changes of +2.63% and +0.36%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Altria. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.33% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Altria is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In terms of valuation, Altria is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 8.48. This signifies no noticeable deviation in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 8.48 for its industry.
Investors should also note that MO has a PEG ratio of 2.6 right now. 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. The average PEG ratio for the Tobacco industry stood at 1.64 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 61, finds itself in the top 25% echelons of all 250+ industries.
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.
To follow MO in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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Altria Group, Inc. (MO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
