Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $117.05.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PM shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Philip Morris International from $120.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Philip Morris International from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th.

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PM opened at $121.72 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.17. Philip Morris International has a 52 week low of $87.23 and a 52 week high of $128.22. The company has a market cap of $189.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.02. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 113.32% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $9.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Philip Morris International will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Philip Morris International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Philip Morris International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Philip Morris International’s payout ratio is 101.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total value of $2,260,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,906,095.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Wilde Frederic De sold 20,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.01, for a total value of $2,260,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,447 shares in the company, valued at $17,906,095.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Massimo Andolina sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.35, for a total value of $1,038,150.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 85,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,877,305.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 5,006.0% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,958,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,908,000 after buying an additional 5,841,696 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Philip Morris International by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 58,416,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,495,794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,869,272 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $282,785,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 79.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,878,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,634,000 after acquiring an additional 2,599,684 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 5,045.1% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,122,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,484,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the company’s stock.

About Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.