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

Altria (MO) closed at $38.55 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.7% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.05%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.52%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.72%.

Coming into today, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had lost 11.85% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector lost 1.64%, while the S&P 500 lost 3.29%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from MO as it approaches its next earnings release. 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 $5.45 billion, up 0.62% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.31 per share and revenue of $20.37 billion, which would represent changes of +2.13% and +2.92%, respectively, from the prior year.

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. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. MO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, MO currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.01. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.33.

We can also see that MO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.25. 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 Tobacco industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.16 as of yesterday's close.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 76, which puts it in the top 30% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order 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.

To follow MO in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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