Bank of America Increases Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Price Target to $57.00

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price target boosted by analysts at Bank of America from $52.00 to $57.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 5.03% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.58.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $54.27 on Wednesday. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $54.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.88. The company has a market cap of $93.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MO. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after buying an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.