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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 $43.46, marking a +1.49% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.75% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.32%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.1%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had lost 6.03% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 8.38% and the S&P 500's loss of 8.4% in that time.

Altria will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 27, 2022. On that day, Altria is projected to report earnings of $1.31 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 7.38%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.65 billion, up 2.15% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.86 per share and revenue of $20.86 billion, which would represent changes of +5.42% and -1.21%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for 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 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.07% higher. Altria currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Altria has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.82 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 8.73, which means Altria is trading at a premium to the group.

Meanwhile, MO's PEG ratio is currently 1.47. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Tobacco stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.1 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 188, which puts it in the bottom 26% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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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