Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01, Zacks reports. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group updated its FY 2025 guidance to 5.220-5.370 EPS.

Altria Group Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE MO traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $51.14. 8,232,433 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,327,223. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.75 and a 200 day moving average of $52.29. Altria Group has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.98%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

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.