Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.3333.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $72.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 21st.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 400.0% during the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.00 on Friday. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $50.08 and a 52-week high of $68.60. The stock has a market cap of $97.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.77.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 319.43% and a net margin of 37.89%.The firm had revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.370-5.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.