Tobacco Stocks Trading Lower After Nielsen Data Shows Drop in Cigarette Sales

Shares of the big three tobacco stocks continued trading lower after Nielsen data published Tuesday showed a drop in cigarette sales for the four-week period ended May 18.

Earlier Tuesday morning, Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) said “World No Tabacco Day” should be “World No Smoking Day” and pushed for the global regulatory and public health community to improve public health. The World Health Organization predicts there will be more than 1 billion people who smoke in 2025, about the same number as today.

After falling between 3-4 percent in Tuesday's session, shares of the tobacco companies were trading lower early Wednesday morning:

British American Tobacco (NYSE: BTI) was trading 3.33 percent lower at $35.11 per share.

Altria Group Inc (NYSE: MO) was down 1.4 percent at $49.17 per share.

Philip Morris was trading about 0.67 percent lower at $81 per share.

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