Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.33.

A number of brokerages recently commented on MO. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price 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.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 79.9% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 6,219 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Altria Group by 9.8% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 79,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,040,000 after buying an additional 7,088 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.4% during the third quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 274,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,014,000 after buying an additional 6,338 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 56,905.6% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 192,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,834,000 after buying an additional 192,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.6% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 95,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,992,000 after buying an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $53.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.70. The stock has a market cap of $90.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $55.05.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.62%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.