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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.33.

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $27,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $41,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $53.54 on Friday. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $55.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.70. The company has a market capitalization of $90.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.62%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.