Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $70.11 According to Analysts

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.11.

Several brokerages have commented on MO. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Freedom Broker upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:MO opened at $68.54 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.24. Altria Group has a 52 week low of $54.70 and a 52 week high of $77.06. The stock has a market cap of $114.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 33.99% and a negative return on equity of 315.29%. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.11 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 93.67%.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In related news, Director Kathryn McQuade acquired 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.62 per share, with a total value of $101,430.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 114,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,771,498.98. This trade represents a 1.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,073,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,070,964,000 after buying an additional 1,325,175 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,886,000 after buying an additional 1,147,141 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth $1,806,782,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $1,104,566,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,929,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,194,000 after acquiring an additional 133,676 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc is a U.S.-based holding company focused primarily on tobacco and nicotine products. Through its operating companies, Altria manufactures and markets cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, oral nicotine products and electronic cigarettes. Its portfolio includes well-known brands such as Marlboro cigarettes, Copenhagen and Skoal smokeless tobacco, Black & Mild cigars, NJOY e-cigarettes and on! nicotine pouches.

Altria’s principal businesses include Philip Morris USA, the largest U.S.