Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock

Key Points

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Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $57.00 to $62.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.13.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3%

Altria Group stock traded down $0.17 on Thursday, reaching $61.77. 9,687,371 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,502,353. The stock has a market cap of $104.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $48.86 and a twelve month high of $62.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.39.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 78.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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