Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Receives $57.71 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.75.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd.

Altria Group Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $1.90 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $57.64. 22,194,118 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,640,998. The firm has a market cap of $97.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.54. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $46.02 and a 12 month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.08%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,670 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $1,122,000. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 9,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Altria Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 710,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,563,000 after purchasing an additional 12,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

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.