Brokerages Set Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) PT at $46.90

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.90.

MO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $46.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.75. Altria Group has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $47.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.52%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,084,000 after buying an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $525,810,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after buying an additional 919,058 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.