Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Piper Jaffray Companies from $76.00 to $81.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Jaffray Companies’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.71% from the stock’s current price.
Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MO. Berenberg Bank raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.01 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Vetr cut Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $67.97 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Zacks Investment Research cut Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Co boosted their price target on Altria Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Jefferies Group raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $70.04 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $73.27.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $69.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,617,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,240,000. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Altria Group has a 52 week low of $60.01 and a 52 week high of $77.79. The stock has a market cap of $132,430.00, a PE ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.53.
Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,023,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,129,659,000 after purchasing an additional 2,690,270 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 7.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 127,525,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,496,859,000 after purchasing an additional 8,969,677 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Altria Group by 27.6% during the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,157,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,065,018,000 after purchasing an additional 8,914,575 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Altria Group by 7.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,970,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,393,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,120 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 5.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 20,802,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,550,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,839 shares during the period. 62.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Altria Group Company Profile
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.
