Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) – Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group increased their FY2023 EPS estimates for shares of Altria Group in a research report issued on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group analyst O. Bennett now anticipates that the company will earn $5.36 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $5.29. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock.
Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank lowered their price target on Altria Group from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Argus set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $57.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, ValuEngine cut Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.19.
Shares of MO stock opened at $47.53 on Monday. Altria Group has a 1 year low of $39.30 and a 1 year high of $57.88. The stock has a market cap of $88.79 billion, a PE ratio of 50.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.34 and its 200-day moving average is $47.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.56.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.02. Altria Group had a return on equity of 56.17% and a net margin of 7.00%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 24th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 84.21%.
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 78,832,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,286,972,000 after buying an additional 4,850,215 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 7,460,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,349,000 after buying an additional 127,553 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 27.7% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,187,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,368,000 after buying an additional 691,381 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 3,063,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,280,000 after buying an additional 65,371 shares during the period. Finally, Coho Partners Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Coho Partners Ltd. now owns 2,379,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,777,000 after buying an additional 613,716 shares during the period. 62.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Altria Group Company Profile
Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cigarettes, smokeless products, and wine in the United States. It offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars principally under the Black & Mild brand; and moist smokeless tobacco products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands.