Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Altria Group, Inc. has received an average analyst rating of "Hold", with two sell ratings, five holds, and two buy ratings among the nine brokerages covering the stock.
• The company recently reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a 0.2% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Altria Group announced a quarterly dividend of $1.02, resulting in an annual yield of 6.6%, with a payout ratio of approximately 78.92%.

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.1250.

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.47. 5,844,591 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,937,225. Altria Group has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $62.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 78.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after buying an additional 1,300,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,243,041 shares of the company's stock worth $734,827,000 after purchasing an additional 441,083 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.