Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.33.

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 18.5% in the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP lifted its position in Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $56.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $96.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.59, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $57.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.81.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

About Altria Group

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.