UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $42.00 to $46.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on MO. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE MO opened at $58.96 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $55.38 and its 200-day moving average is $53.69. The company has a market capitalization of $99.68 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $60.18.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after acquiring an additional 19,893 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after acquiring an additional 54,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Altria Group by 48.8% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,581,000 after acquiring an additional 29,421 shares during the period. 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.