Altria (MO) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Altria (MO) closed at $37.14, marking a -0.72% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 7.03%. At the same time, the Dow added 7.73%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 7.33%.
Heading into today, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had lost 13.32% over the past month, outpacing the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 13.37% and the S&P 500's loss of 16.9% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from MO as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be April 30, 2020. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.99, up 10% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.59 billion, up 4.51% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.38 per share and revenue of $20.22 billion. These totals would mark changes of +3.79% and +2.12%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MO. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
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 0.94% lower. MO currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, MO currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.55. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 9.75, which means MO is trading at a discount to the group.
It is also worth noting that MO currently has a PEG ratio of 1.35. 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. Tobacco stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.35 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 54, putting it in the top 22% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
To follow MO in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Altria Group, Inc. (MO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
