Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $59.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $47.00.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MO. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.71.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MO opened at $59.62 on Wednesday. Altria Group has a fifty-two week low of $45.76 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.43. The company has a market cap of $100.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 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.