Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $56.00.

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,490,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,798,592,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after acquiring an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,122,290,000 after acquiring an additional 18,471,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $59.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $43.83 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $58.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.75.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.83%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.