Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Price Target Raised to $60.00 at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its target price boosted by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $52.00 to $60.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.17.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:MO opened at $53.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.57. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The firm has a market cap of $91.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.57%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Fairman Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 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.