Altria misses 4Q net income expectations, tops revenue forecasts

Altria Group (MO) on Friday reported fourth-quarter profit of $1.24 billion.

On a per-share basis, the Richmond, Virginia-based company said it had profit of 63 cents. Earnings, adjusted to extinguish debt and for non-recurring costs, came to 66 cents per share.

The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 67 cents per share.

The owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker posted revenue of $4.61 billion in the period, beating Street forecasts. Analysts expected $4.51 billion, according to Zacks.

Altria expects full-year earnings in the range of $2.75 to $2.80 per share.

Altria shares have increased 10 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has declined nearly 2 percent. The stock has climbed 49 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MO at http://www.zacks.com/ap/MO

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Keywords: Altria, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings