Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.02

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of 1.02 per share on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th.

Altria Group has increased its dividend by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 56 consecutive years. Altria Group has a dividend payout ratio of 73.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Altria Group to earn $5.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 73.6%.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE MO traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $55.83. 9,820,716 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,596,938. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $52.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.85. The company has a market capitalization of $94.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.