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Philip Morris (PM) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Philip Morris (PM - Free Report) closed at $90.16, marking a +0.17% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.99%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the seller of Marlboro and other cigarette brands had lost 6.1% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 6.84% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 0.42% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Philip Morris as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Philip Morris to post earnings of $1.46 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 1.35%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $8.72 billion, up 11.32% from the year-ago period.

PM's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.20 per share and revenue of $35.18 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +3.68% and +10.77%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Philip Morris should also be noted by investors. 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. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.13% lower. Philip Morris is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

In terms of valuation, Philip Morris is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.51. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 8.94, which means Philip Morris is trading at a premium to the group.

Also, we should mention that PM has a PEG ratio of 2.28. 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. Tobacco stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.24 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 172, which puts it in the bottom 32% 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 PM in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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