Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a sell rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a buy rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $41.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.84 and a 200-day moving average of $41.43. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04. The company has a market cap of $70.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly 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 negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.54%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Red Door Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 84,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,666,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in Altria Group by 14.1% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 105,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 13,100 shares during the period. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 28.3% in the first quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.3% in the first quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 99,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,345,000 after buying an additional 2,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.