Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.29.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE MO opened at $57.83 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.23. The stock has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.05%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after buying an additional 46,697 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 729.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. 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.