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

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.17.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:MO traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $49.55. 5,269,794 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,114,368. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.40. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95. The company has a market capitalization of $85.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,510,000 after buying an additional 243,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after buying an additional 215,594 shares during the last quarter. 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.