NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR investors to quit cigarette maker Philip Morris International (ticker: PM). Down 17% since touching a 20-month high in April, shares of the company — also known by the acronym PMI — have gotten walloped by a strengthening U.S. dollar and economic turmoil in Europe, where the cigarette maker gets roughly 40% of sales.
Many investment pros say that the Street’s current forecast of a 15% profit jump in 2010 is too high.
Yet at just over 11 times forward earnings, Philip Morris has rarely been this cheap.
Though forecasts are falling, PMI can still …