Altria Group (NYSE:MO) PT Raised to $48.00 at Citigroup

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from $44.50 to $48.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $50.17.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3 %

MO opened at $49.84 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.55 and a 200 day moving average of $47.53. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $54.95. The stock has a market cap of $85.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after buying an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 182,943.7% in the second quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,930,000 after buying an additional 568,955 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is 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.