Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Philip Morris International has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 10 of 12 analysts rating the stock a buy and an average 12-month price target of about $192.56.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.96 versus the $1.83 estimate and revenue of $10.15 billion versus $9.95 billion expected. Revenue rose 9.1% year over year, and the company also lifted its full-year and second-quarter EPS guidance.
• Recent insider activity showed both the CEO and CFO sold shares in February, while institutional investors remain heavily involved, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 78.63% of the stock.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $192.5556.

PM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Philip Morris International from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Philip Morris International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jacek Olczak sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.18, for a total transaction of $14,574,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,344 shares in the company, valued at $115,200,429.92. This represents a 11.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Emmanuel Babeau sold 33,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.61, for a total value of $6,138,418.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 164,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,868,125.43. The trade was a 17.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 101,377,875 shares of the company's stock worth $16,262,967,000 after purchasing an additional 12,227,004 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,559,706 shares of the company's stock worth $8,751,407,000 after purchasing an additional 11,013,173 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 132,355,726 shares of the company's stock worth $21,230,315,000 after purchasing an additional 3,579,399 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,301,112 shares of the company's stock worth $1,491,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1,547.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,260,217 shares of the company's stock worth $362,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123,002 shares during the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of PM opened at $181.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $166.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.77. The company has a market capitalization of $283.60 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.37. Philip Morris International has a fifty-two week low of $142.11 and a fifty-two week high of $191.30.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.95 billion. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 142.02% and a net margin of 11.61%.Philip Morris International's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. Philip Morris International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.510 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.070 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th were issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 19th. Philip Morris International's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.70%.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

Philip Morris International Inc NYSE: PM is a global tobacco company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, other nicotine-containing products and a growing portfolio of smoke-free alternatives for adult smokers. The firm traces its corporate roots to the 19th century Philip Morris enterprise and was established as an independent, publicly traded company following a 2008 separation from what is now Altria. Since the spin-off, the company has focused on serving international markets outside the United States.

PMI's product mix includes traditional combustible cigarettes as well as smoke-free offerings such as heated tobacco systems and other reduced-risk products.

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