Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15, Yahoo Finance reports. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group updated its FY 2024 guidance to 5.050-5.170 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $5.05-$5.17 EPS.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

MO stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.38. 13,794,252 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.18 and its 200 day moving average is $41.47. The firm has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.04%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.