Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

MO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:MO opened at $59.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $100.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $43.44 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.88.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 37.8% in the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 689 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.