Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Price Target Increased to $45.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its target price increased by Barclays from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Argus raised Altria Group to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $53.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $91.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.29. Altria Group has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.68%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after buying an additional 242,442 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.