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

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Altria (MO - Free Report) closed at $44.29 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.42% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.1%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.61%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 6.59%.

Heading into today, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had lost 2.01% over the past month, lagging the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 1.44% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.58% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Altria as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 1, 2023. In that report, analysts expect Altria to post earnings of $1.18 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 8.26%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.16 billion, up 1.54% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-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, 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.4% higher within the past month. Altria currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Altria's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 8.87. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 8.99.

We can also see that MO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.22. 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. The Tobacco industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.86 as of yesterday's close.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 50, putting it in the top 20% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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