Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.02

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 22nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of 1.02 per share on Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98.

Altria Group has increased its dividend by an average of 4.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 55 years. Altria Group has a dividend payout ratio of 73.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Altria Group to earn $5.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 74.1%.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.44. The stock had a trading volume of 9,145,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,471,797. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $52.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.08.

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.