Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $54.00 to $53.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 2.73% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $87.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after acquiring an additional 40,574 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after acquiring an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after acquiring an additional 32,318 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.