Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04), Briefing.com reports. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% 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 Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,662,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,285,990. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.97. The stock has a market cap of $87.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $51.40.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America raised their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.90.

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.