Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price
by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat GemAltria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Bank of America from $72.00 to $73.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.11% from the stock’s current price.
A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.88.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MO
Altria Group Price Performance
Shares of MO opened at $67.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.41. Altria Group has a one year low of $54.70 and a one year high of $70.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.41 and a 200 day moving average of $62.59.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Altria Group news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.6% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after purchasing an additional 26,624 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,677,000 after buying an additional 44,303 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 202,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,647,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $797,587,000 after buying an additional 814,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in Altria Group by 155.4% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after buying an additional 18,997 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.
About Altria Group
Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.
Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.