Stifel Nicolaus Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Altria Group (NYSE:MO)

Stifel Nicolaus restated their buy rating on shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a $50.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a sell rating and set a $36.10 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $46.82.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE MO opened at $43.66 on Monday. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $76.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.53.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,248,000 after buying an additional 6,324 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 5.2% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Altria Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,690,000 after buying an additional 89,334 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $498,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.