Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Receives $62.56 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $63.69 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.72. Altria Group has a fifty-two week low of $50.08 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 319.43% and a net margin of 37.89%.The company had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 80.92%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,315,438,000 after buying an additional 886,583 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,724,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,229,000 after buying an additional 764,221 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 19,567,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,285,575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,705,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,543,000 after acquiring an additional 59,189 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.