Needham & Company LLC Upgrades Altria Group (NYSE:MO) to "Hold"

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Needham & Company LLC to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3%

MO stock opened at $59.30 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.64. The company has a market capitalization of $99.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MO. Csenge Advisory Group grew its stake in Altria Group by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 12,320 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,418,074 shares of the company's stock worth $126,441,000 after purchasing an additional 523,146 shares during the period. Burford Brothers Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 36,951 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 10,605 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,563,000 after buying an additional 39,341 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $920,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

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.