Altria (MO) Increases Yet Falls Behind Market: What Investors Need to Know

The most recent trading session ended with Altria (MO) standing at $58.71, reflecting a +0.26% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This change lagged the S&P 500's 2.03% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 1.23%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 2.74%.Shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker have appreciated by 1.4% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 3.2% and outperforming the S&P 500's loss of 5.07%.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 April 29, 2025. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.17, up 1.74% from the prior-year quarter. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $4.64 billion, indicating a 1.67% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.28 per share and revenue of $20.36 billion, which would represent changes of +3.13% and -0.41%, respectively, from the prior year.Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. 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. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical 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 0.68% lower within the past month. As of now, Altria holds a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Altria has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.09 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 11.09, which means Altria is trading at no noticeable deviation to the group.We can also see that MO currently has a PEG ratio of 3.42. 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. The Tobacco industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.13 as of yesterday's close.The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 92, positioning it in the top 38% of all 250+ industries.The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Altria Group, Inc. (MO): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks