Bank of America Lowers Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Price Target to $53.00

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price objective cut by Bank of America from $57.00 to $53.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $49.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $85.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.71. Altria Group has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.21%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position 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 worth $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 120.6% during 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its position in Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is 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.