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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.1111.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:MO opened at $64.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.62. The firm has a market cap of $108.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $49.58 and a 52-week high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.Altria Group’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 646,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,704,000 after acquiring an additional 24,494 shares in the last quarter. Cortland Associates Inc. MO raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cortland Associates Inc. MO now owns 18,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 573,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,504,000 after acquiring an additional 99,935 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,876,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the period. Finally, tru Independence LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $205,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.