Altria Group Inc (MO)

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Altria (MO) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
By: Zacks Equity Research | March 25, 2019

In the latest trading session, Altria (MO) closed at $56.56, marking a +1.14% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.08% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.06%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.07%.

Coming into today, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had gained 11.02% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector gained 2.2%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.52%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from MO as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect MO to post earnings of $0.92 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 3.16%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.56 billion, down 2.26% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.19 per share and revenue of $19.74 billion, which would represent changes of +5.01% and +0.6%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for MO should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.27% higher. MO is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Looking at its valuation, MO is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 13.35. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 13.25, so we one might conclude that MO is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that MO has a PEG ratio of 1.67 right now. 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. MO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.78 as of yesterday's close.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, which puts it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.

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