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

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Altria (MO - Free Report) closed at $45.56 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.22% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.02%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.23%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.12%.

Coming into today, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had gained 2.53% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector gained 3.85%, while the S&P 500 gained 5.14%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Altria as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be August 1, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.31, up 3.97% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.45 billion, up 1.35% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.99 per share and revenue of $20.82 billion, which would represent changes of +3.1% and +0.63%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the 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 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.32% higher within the past month. Altria currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Looking at its valuation, Altria is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 9.1. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 9.76, which means Altria is trading at a discount to the group.

It is also worth noting that MO currently 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 2.35 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 59, putting it in the top 24% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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