Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Price Target Raised to $47.00

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price target raised by UBS Group from $46.00 to $47.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the stock.

MO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.5 %

MO stock opened at $59.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $100.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $57.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.85. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $43.37 and a 1-year high of $60.18.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 226.3% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.