Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $46.00 to $49.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $59.60 on Friday. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $43.37 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.85. The company has a market cap of $100.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.