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

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Altria, with five buys, four holds, and two sells; the average 1-year price target is $70.11.
• Altria raised its quarterly dividend to $1.11 per share, equivalent to a $4.44 annualized payout and a 6.5% yield.
• The company slightly missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.48 versus the $1.50 consensus, while revenue rose 1.2% year over year to $5.36 billion.

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.1111.

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. BTIG Research started coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,073,166 shares of the company's stock worth $9,070,964,000 after buying an additional 1,325,175 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,275,886,000 after buying an additional 1,147,141 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,777,931,000 after buying an additional 6,265,780 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company's stock worth $2,651,383,000 after acquiring an additional 729,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $1,806,782,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $68.80 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.08. Altria Group has a fifty-two week low of $54.70 and a fifty-two week high of $77.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.35 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.99% and a negative return on equity of 315.29%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.11 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.45%.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc NYSE: MO is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company's operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria's principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.

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