Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.43.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 8,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 39,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after buying an additional 18,546 shares in the last quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 7,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 2,522 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 177,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,257,000 after buying an additional 6,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 19,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $51.47 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $54.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.07. The company has a market cap of $87.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.93%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.