Media reports or rumors about a company's business prospects frequently cause its stock to trend and change its price, but fundamental factors always drive the buy-and-hold decision. Zacks prioritizes a company's future earnings estimate change over everything else. We feel its stock's fair value is based on the present value of its future earnings.
We base our analysis on how sell-side analysts covering the firm are changing their profit predictions to reflect business movements. Fair value for a company's shares rises with profit projections. When a stock's fair value is higher than its market price, investors buy it, raising its price. Because of this, empirical studies show a substantial link between earnings estimate revisions and short-term stock price changes.
Altria is predicted to earn $1.16 per share this quarter, down 1.7% from last year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has dropped 1.8% in 30 days. The consensus earnings forecast of $5.07 for the current fiscal year is up 2.4% from last year. This estimate has dropped 0.4% in 30 days.
The consensus profits projection for Altria for the next fiscal year is $5.26, up 3.8% from last year. In the past month, the estimate has dropped 0.5%. Our unique stock grading technique, the Zacks Rank, uses earnings estimate revisions to better predict a stock's near-term price performance and has an exceptional externally verified track record. Altria has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) due to the recent consensus estimate shift and three additional earnings estimate factors.
Earnings growth is the best sign of a company's financial health, but it fails without revenue growth. After all, a corporation can't sustainably boost earnings without expanding revenues. Knowing a company's revenue growth potential is crucial.
The consensus sales forecast for Altria for the current quarter is $4.73 billion, a -0.6% year-over-year decline. Current and next fiscal year forecasts are $20.58 billion and $20.86 billion, respectively, with +0.4% and +1.4% changes.
In the last quarter, Altria recorded $5.02 billion in revenues, down 1.2% year-over-year. Comparing EPS of $1.18 for the same period to $1.18 last year. Revenues were 1.2% lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.09 billion. The EPS surprise was +0.85%. Only once in the last four quarters did the company exceed EPS forecasts. None of the last four quarters saw the company beat consensus revenue projections.
No investing decision is efficient without stock valuation. To anticipate a stock's future price, you must analyze if its present price reflects the business's fundamental value and growth potential.
Comparing the current value of a company's valuation multiples, such as its P/E, P/S, and P/CF, to its historical values helps determine whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, while comparing it to its peers tells how reasonable its stock price is.
The Zacks Value Style Score, part of the Zacks Style Scores system, grades stocks from A to F using both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics (an An is better than a B, a B is better than a C, etc.). It can help identify stocks that are overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued. Altria is rated B, indicating a discount to its peers
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