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Altria (MO) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

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In the latest trading session, Altria (MO - Free Report) closed at $49.61, marking a -0.26% move from the previous day. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.4%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.09%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.63%.

Shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker witnessed a loss of 0.98% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Consumer Staples sector with its loss of 2.13% and underperforming the S&P 500's gain of 3.76%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Altria in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on October 31, 2024. In that report, analysts expect Altria to post earnings of $1.36 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 6.25%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.29 billion, up 0.21% from the year-ago period.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $5.11 per share and revenue of $20.32 billion, indicating changes of +3.23% and -0.89%, respectively, compared to the previous 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. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.05% lower within the past month. Right now, Altria possesses a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

In terms of valuation, Altria is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.74. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 9.74, which means Altria is trading at no noticeable deviation to the group.

Meanwhile, MO's PEG ratio is currently 2.87. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The average PEG ratio for the Tobacco industry stood at 2.62 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 107, finds itself in the top 43% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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