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Altria (MO) Rises Higher Than Market: Key Facts

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The latest trading session saw Altria (MO - Free Report) ending at $49.94, denoting a +0.28% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.22%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.33%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.76%.

The owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker's shares have seen a decrease of 2.43% over the last month, not keeping up with the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 2.27% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.47%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Altria in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on October 31, 2024. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.36, indicating a 6.25% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $5.29 billion, showing a 0.21% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.11 per share and a revenue of $20.32 billion, representing changes of +3.23% and -0.89%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Altria. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.05% lower. At present, Altria boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Altria has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.76 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 9.76, so one might conclude that Altria is trading at no noticeable deviation comparatively.

One should further note that MO currently holds a PEG ratio of 2.87. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. MO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.71 as of yesterday's close.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 98, which puts it in the top 39% 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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