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The most recent trading session ended with Altria (MO) standing at $49.80, reflecting a +0.77% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.51%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 0.93%.

The owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker's shares have seen an increase of 6.6% over the last month, surpassing the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 0.13% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.26%.

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 July 31, 2024. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.35, indicating a 3.05% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.43 billion, down 0.2% from the year-ago period.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $5.11 per share and a revenue of $20.48 billion, indicating changes of +3.23% and -0.13%, respectively, from the former year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria should also be noted by investors. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Currently, Altria is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, Altria is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.67. This denotes no noticeable deviation relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 9.67.

It is also worth noting that MO currently has a PEG ratio of 3.03. 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. Tobacco stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 62, this industry ranks in the top 25% of all industries, numbering over 250.

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.

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

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.