Wall Street analysts forecast that Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) will announce earnings of $1.01 per share for the current quarter, according to Zacks. Four analysts have made estimates for Altria Group’s earnings, with the highest EPS estimate coming in at $1.02 and the lowest estimate coming in at $1.00. Altria Group posted earnings of $0.95 per share during the same quarter last year, which suggests a positive year-over-year growth rate of 6.3%. The firm is expected to announce its next earnings report before the market opens on Thursday, January 30th.
On average, analysts expect that Altria Group will report full-year earnings of $4.21 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $4.19 to $4.23. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the company will report earnings of $4.41 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $4.37 to $4.46. Zacks’ EPS calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that that provide coverage for Altria Group.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. Altria Group had a return on equity of 56.17% and a net margin of 7.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share.
A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America set a $54.00 price objective on Altria Group and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays set a $50.00 price objective on Altria Group and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.86.
Altria Group stock opened at $49.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.44. Altria Group has a 52 week low of $39.30 and a 52 week high of $57.88.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 24th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.21%.
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 584.6% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,679,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,968,000 after buying an additional 7,411,523 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 6.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 78,832,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,286,972,000 after purchasing an additional 4,850,215 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 74.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,727,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010,023 shares in the last quarter. Natixis boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 428.3% during the second quarter. Natixis now owns 1,846,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 73.2% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,428,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,362 shares in the last quarter. 62.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Altria Group Company Profile
Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cigarettes, smokeless products, and wine in the United States. It offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars principally under the Black & Mild brand; and moist smokeless tobacco products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands.
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