Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an underperform rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock.
Several other research analysts also recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.75.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Altria Group
Altria Group Trading Down 3.2%
Shares of MO traded down $1.90 on Wednesday, reaching $57.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,196,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,641,100. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $46.02 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.33 and a 200-day moving average of $56.54.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Altria Group Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.34%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MO. GQG Partners LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,122,290,000 after buying an additional 18,471,846 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $219,141,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% in 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 40.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,961,220 shares of the company's stock worth $717,913,000 after buying an additional 3,415,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 111.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,558,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $333,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,006 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.
Altria Group Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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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