Altria Group (MO) Competitors

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) and Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Do analysts rate MO or PM?

Altria Group currently has a consensus target price of $48.20, indicating a potential downside of 3.41%. Philip Morris International has a consensus target price of $123.95, indicating a potential upside of 2.62%. Given Philip Morris International's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Philip Morris International is more favorable than Altria Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Altria Group	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.83
Philip Morris International	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.55

Do institutionals & insiders believe in MO or PM?

57.4% of Altria Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Philip Morris International shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Altria Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Philip Morris International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, MO or PM?

Altria Group has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Philip Morris International has a beta of 0.55, meaning that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MO or PM?

Altria Group received 50 more outperform votes than Philip Morris International when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 68.78% of users gave Altria Group an outperform vote while only 57.66% of users gave Philip Morris International an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Altria Group	Outperform Votes 848 68.78%	Underperform Votes 385 31.22%
Philip Morris International	Outperform Votes 798 57.66%	Underperform Votes 586 42.34%

Is MO or PM more profitable?

Altria Group has a net margin of 42.25% compared to Philip Morris International's net margin of 9.41%. Philip Morris International's return on equity of -113.32% beat Altria Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Altria Group	42.25%	-232.55%	23.71%
Philip Morris International	9.41%	-113.32%	14.71%

Is MO or PM a better dividend stock?

Altria Group pays an annual dividend of $4.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. Philip Morris International pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Altria Group pays out 85.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Philip Morris International pays out 105.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Altria Group has increased its dividend for 56 consecutive years and Philip Morris International has increased its dividend for 17 consecutive years. Altria Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor MO or PM?

In the previous week, Philip Morris International had 2 more articles in the media than Altria Group. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Philip Morris International and 18 mentions for Altria Group. Philip Morris International's average media sentiment score of 0.72 beat Altria Group's score of 0.46 indicating that Philip Morris International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Altria Group	7 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Philip Morris International	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, MO or PM?

Altria Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Philip Morris International. Altria Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Philip Morris International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Altria Group	$20.30B	4.22	$8.13B	$4.78	10.44
Philip Morris International	$36.45B	5.13	$7.81B	$5.12	23.49

Summary

Philip Morris International beats Altria Group on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.