Altria Group (MO) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) will announce its earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.15 per share for the quarter. Altria Group has set its FY24 guidance at $5.00-5.15 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance at 5.000-5.150 EPS.Parties that are interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Altria Group to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $41.09 on Thursday. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.43.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MO. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.