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Altria Group Inc. Market Update
2/27/2023 2:42 PMThe stocks of one of the leaders of the global tobacco market, Altria Group Inc., continue to correct and are trading at 47.00.
Despite a significant drop in financial indicators, investors reacted to the company's report quite neutrally, which allowed the shares to stay near the highs of last autumn at 45.00. It should be noted that revenue in Q4 amounted to 5.08B dollars, which is lower than 6.55B dollars a quarter earlier, and earnings per share – to 1.18 dollars, which is inferior to the previous 1.28 dollars.
Management also stated that 1.7B dollars in dividends were sent to investors in Q4, and for the whole year the figure was 6.6B dollars. Thus, dividends are a matter of pride for Altria Group Inc., as the company pays up to 80.0% of EPS. The last payment took place on January 10 and reached 0.94 dollars per share, which is equivalent to a yield of 8.10% per annum. In addition, a new 1.0B-dollar share repurchase program was announced, which is expected to be completed by December 31, 2023.
As for the forecasts for the coming year, Altria Group Inc. is confident that it will be able to achieve an annual profit of 4.98–5.13 dollars per share, which exceeds 4.84 dollars in 2022. It is also expected that capital expenditures for 2023 will range from 175.0M dollars to 225.0M dollars, which is comparable to costs in 2022 of 230.0M dollars.
The instrument continues to trade within the local corrective trend, reversing on the daily chart towards the resistance line of the Triangle pattern.
Technical indicators still hold a weak buy signal: the range of EMA fluctuations of the alligator indicator is gradually narrowing, and the histogram of the AO oscillator forms new bars with a downward trend, being above the transition level.
Support levels: 46.00, 44.00. | Resistance levels: 48.00, 50.00.