Yahoo Finance Altria (MO) Stock Drops Despite Market Gains: Important Facts to Note
The most recent trading session ended with Altria (MO) standing at $39.93, reflecting a -1.26% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.08%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.26%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.36%.
The owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker's shares have seen an increase of 0.25% over the last month, not keeping up with the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 4.54% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.4%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Altria in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on February 1, 2024. In that report, analysts expect Altria to post earnings of $1.17 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 0.85%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $5.09 billion, indicating a 0.04% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% lower within the past month. Altria is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Altria has a Forward P/E ratio of 7.9 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 8.97.
It's also important to note that MO currently trades at a PEG ratio of 2.61. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.81 at yesterday's closing price.
The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 119, finds itself in the top 48% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
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Altria Group, Inc. (MO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
