Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $5.05-$5.17 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $5.08. Altria Group also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 5.050-5.170 EPS.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.37. 13,793,861 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,018,917. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.04%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented 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. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $46.90.

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.