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In the latest trading session, Altria (MO) closed at $40.88, marking a +0.17% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.01%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.06%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.06%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had lost 12.41% over the past month. This has lagged the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 0.13% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.23% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from MO as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, MO is projected to report earnings of $1.14 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 5.56%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.29 billion, unchanged from the prior-year quarter.
MO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.18 per share and revenue of $19.71 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.76% and +0.41%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MO. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% higher. MO is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Looking at its valuation, MO is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 9.77. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.02, so we one might conclude that MO is trading at a discount comparatively.
Meanwhile, MO's PEG ratio is currently 1.28. 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. Tobacco stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.28 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 46, which puts it in the top 18% of all 250+ industries.