Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) rose 0.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $50.09 and last traded at $50.09. Approximately 866,040 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 9,825,591 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.97. The stock has a market cap of $85.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.17%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.34%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.