Brokerages Set Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Target Price at $53.29

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.29.

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Altria Group stock opened at $53.37 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.75 and a 200-day moving average of $52.57. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 15,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP boosted its position in Altria Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 85,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184 shares during the period. Hutner Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 102,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,378,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504 shares during the last quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 239.3% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.