Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group updated its FY24 guidance to $5.07-5.15 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 5.070-5.150 EPS.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE MO traded down $0.59 on Friday, reaching $53.87. 10,985,628 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,907,085. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.29. The company has a market cap of $91.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $54.95.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.17.

About Altria Group

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.