NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Philip Morris (PM) - Get Report are advancing 0.36% to $100.51 on Friday afternoon after JPMorgan boosted its rating on the stock to "overweight" from "neutral."

The firm has a $112 price target on shares of the New York-based cigarette and tobacco products company.

JPMorgan sees Philip Morris as a long-term winner in novel nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes.

"We believe that the disruptive and inevitable progress of novel nicotine products (NNP) will improve industry fundamentals (e.g. higher profits, premiumization) while lowering regulatory pressures. This should underpin the re-rating of the industry, which we see as attractively valued despite strong year-to-date performance," the firm wrote in an analyst note earlier today.

JPMorgan believes that by 2030 about 60% of current smokers in the developed world could have switched to novel nicotine products.

E-cigarettes have had limited traction with unintended users so far, except for low, though increasing, use among ex-smokers, JPMorgan noted.

"Under a long-term scenario in which NNPs are deemed safer enough by regulators, we explore the hypothesis that a small portion of former smokers decide to use NNP," the firm said.

"We estimate that 5% of former smokers from 2020 could moderate the decline in the number of users in developed markets by 60bps pa, could drive profits by $1.4bn (5% of Big 4 profits), and could increase EBIT growth at a 50bps pa CAGR 2020-2030," JPMorgan added.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Hold" rating with a score of C+ on the stock.

The primary factors that have impacted the rating are mixed. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its good cash flow from operations, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance.

But the team also finds weaknesses including deteriorating net income and feeble growth in the company's earnings per share.

Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: PM

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