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

Key Points

• Analysts have issued a consensus recommendation of "Hold" for Altria Group, with two sell ratings, five hold ratings, and four buy ratings among the eleven research firms covering the stock.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.06 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $4.24 and a yield of 6.6%.
• Altria Group reported quarterly earnings of $1.44 per share, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a slight year-over-year revenue increase of 0.2%.

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.1111.

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 400.0% in the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 500 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of MO stock opened at $64.23 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $65.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.37. The company has a market cap of $107.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $68.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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.

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