Altria Group (NYSE:MO) PT Raised to $43.00

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $37.00 to $43.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $47.08.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $51.32 on Wednesday. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $51.40. The stock has a market cap of $88.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.70.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,567,000 after purchasing an additional 915,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 131.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,211,000 after purchasing an additional 805,051 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.