Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Price Target Increased to $41.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $39.00 to $41.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the stock.

MO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Monday. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $53.15 on Monday. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $54.95. The company has a market capitalization 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm’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. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in 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.