Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Hits Estimates

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15, Yahoo Finance reports. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.21. 5,501,379 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,875,061. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.22 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.