Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Announces $1.02 Quarterly Dividend

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of 1.02 per share on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th.

Altria Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 56 consecutive years. Altria Group has a dividend payout ratio of 73.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Altria Group to earn $5.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 73.6%.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $55.83. 9,814,341 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,592,062. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.85. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $94.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced 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 negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.