Wells Fargo & Company Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Altria Group (NYSE:MO)

Altria Group (NYSE:MO)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a research report issued on Monday, July 31st. They presently have a $80.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 25.61% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MO. Vetr raised shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $79.51 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, July 31st. UBS AG decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 31st. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies set a $76.00 price target on shares of Altria Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.66.

Shares of Altria Group (NYSE MO) traded down 0.95% during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $63.69. 10,210,604 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. The company has a market cap of $122.79 billion, a PE ratio of 8.40 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.77 and a 200 day moving average of $72.51. Altria Group has a 52 week low of $60.01 and a 52 week high of $77.79.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.01. Altria Group had a return on equity of 59.50% and a net margin of 56.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group will post $3.26 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 27th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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In other Altria Group news, Director George Munoz sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.35, for a total value of $361,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Martin J. Barrington sold 15,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.03, for a total transaction of $994,959.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 701,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,590,842.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acropolis Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. HM Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. HM Capital Management LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Bellwether Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bellwether Investment Group LLC now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 62.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc is a holding company. The Company’s segments include smokeable products, smokeless products and wine. The Company’s subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA Inc (PM USA), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States; John Middleton Co (Middleton), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made cigars and pipe tobacco, and UST LLC (UST), which, through its subsidiaries, including U.S.