Altria Group (NYSE:MO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Berenberg Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $71.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $60.01. Berenberg Bank’s target price indicates a potential downside of 3.92% from the company’s current price.
A number of other analysts have also weighed in on MO. Vetr lowered shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $67.97 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “hold” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Jefferies Group set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. UBS reduced their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.57.
Altria Group (MO) traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $73.90. 8,475,262 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,840,160. The company has a market cap of $138,630.00, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.77. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $60.01 and a 1-year high of $77.79.
In other news, Director Dinyar S. Devitre sold 32,000 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.22, for a total value of $1,959,040.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 21,647.0% in the second quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 19,831,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,476,867,000 after buying an additional 19,740,509 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 127,525,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,496,859,000 after buying an additional 8,969,677 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 27.6% in the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,157,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,065,018,000 after buying an additional 8,914,575 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,023,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,129,659,000 after buying an additional 2,690,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.7% in the third quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 4,893,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,314,000 after buying an additional 1,974,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.62% of the company’s stock.
WARNING: “Berenberg Bank Upgrades Altria Group (MO) to Buy” was first reported by American Market News and is the sole property of of American Market News. If you are viewing this piece of content on another publication, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of United States & international trademark and copyright laws. The legal version of this piece of content can be viewed at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2017/12/19/berenberg-bank-upgrades-altria-group-mo-to-buy.html.
About Altria Group
Altria Group, Inc is a holding company. The Company’s segments include smokeable products, smokeless products and wine. The Company’s subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA Inc (PM USA), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States; John Middleton Co (Middleton), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made cigars and pipe tobacco, and UST LLC (UST), which, through its subsidiaries, including U.S.
