Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Receives $70.11 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.1111.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,073,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,070,964,000 after buying an additional 1,325,175 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,886,000 after buying an additional 1,147,141 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,777,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,265,780 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,651,383,000 after acquiring an additional 729,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $1,806,782,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $67.88 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.10. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $54.70 and a 52-week high of $77.06.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 315.29% and a net margin of 33.99%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.11 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.45%.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Through its operating companies, Altria develops, manufactures and markets cigarettes, cigars, oral tobacco products, nicotine pouches and electronic vaping products, with its business focused primarily on the United States.

Altria’s smokeable products portfolio includes Marlboro cigarettes, which are manufactured and marketed in the U.S. by Philip Morris USA, as well as Black & Mild cigars through John Middleton.