Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.1111.

Several equities analysts have commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America increased their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,440 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 27.6% during the first quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 22.5% during the first quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 21,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,942 shares during the period. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Altria Group by 57.3% during the first quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 7,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.0%

Altria Group stock opened at $63.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $49.16 and a 12 month high of $68.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.