Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Altria Group stock opened at $59.60 on Thursday. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $43.37 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The company has a market capitalization 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.85.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd 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 stake in Altria Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,581,000 after buying an additional 29,421 shares during the period. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after buying an additional 12,320 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.