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

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In the latest trading session, Altria (MO - Free Report) closed at $48.74, marking a +0.58% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.28%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had lost 2.16% over the past month. This has lagged the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 1.95% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.56% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from MO as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 28, 2021. On that day, MO is projected to report earnings of $1.27 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 6.72%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.79 billion, up 1.92% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.62 per share and revenue of $21.32 billion, which would represent changes of +5.96% and +2.3%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for MO should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. MO currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, MO is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.5. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.14.

We can also see that MO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.63. 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. The Tobacco was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.02 at yesterday's closing price.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 71, putting it in the top 28% 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.


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