Stifel Nicolaus Increases Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Price Target to $60.00

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $54.00 to $60.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target suggests a potential upside of 11.38% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on 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 cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.17.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $53.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.43. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 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, 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.