Philip Morris stock is down just 6% from its 52-week high
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) is primarily a multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. PM is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well as smoke-free products, associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the U.S. Philip Morris’ brand portfolio is led by Marlboro, the world’s best-selling international cigarette. At last check, PM was trading down 0.2% at $100.05.
Philip Morris stock has increased about 22% year-over-year and PM is up 28% since dropping to its February bottom of $78.34. Additionally, shares of PM are currently down just 6% from a three-year high of $106.51.
Moreover, the tobacco company offers a forward dividend of $5.00 with a very high dividend yield of 5.04%. However, Philip Morris stock doesn’t provide the most appealing valuation with a price-earnings ratio of 17.47 and a sky-high price-sales ratio of 4.57. PM also lacks a sense of security with a balance sheet that holds $29.11 billion in total debt and just $4.49 billion in cash.
Options traders are extremely call heavy toward the equity. PM's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 6.74 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands higher than 95% of readings from the last year. This means calls have been getting picked up at a faster-than-usual clip of late.