Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Price Target Cut to $53.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $54.00 to $53.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 2.73% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on MO. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $51.59 on Friday. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.66 and a 200-day moving average of $52.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.