Equities Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO)

Equities Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO)

Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) – Investment analysts at Piper Jaffray Companies cut their Q2 2019 earnings estimates for Altria Group in a report issued on Monday, June 3rd, Zacks Investment Research reports. Piper Jaffray Companies analyst M. Lavery now expects that the company will post earnings of $1.07 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.08. Piper Jaffray Companies also issued estimates for Altria Group’s Q3 2019 earnings at $1.15 EPS and Q2 2020 earnings at $1.12 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. ValuEngine raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup set a $45.00 price target on shares of Altria Group and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.91.

Altria Group stock traded down $2.26 during trading on Thursday, reaching $48.00. The company had a trading volume of 23,002,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,684,531. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $42.40 and a 1-year high of $66.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 49.42%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $277,000. Dean Investment Associates LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 37,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,000 after buying an additional 2,451 shares during the period. 6 Meridian raised its holdings in Altria Group by 29.1% in the 1st quarter. 6 Meridian now owns 464,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,674,000 after buying an additional 104,611 shares during the period. GYL Financial Synergies LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $380,000. Finally, AGF Investments America Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. AGF Investments America Inc. now owns 65,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,256,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.48% of the company’s stock.

In other news, VP W Hildebrandt Surgner, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total transaction of $104,960.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jody L. Begley sold 3,250 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.38, for a total value of $173,485.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.20%.

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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